Twilight's Kristen Stewart Jetts into New Gig

Wed., Dec. 3, 2008 8:45 AM PST by Josh Grossberg

Steve Granitz/Getty Images

We know Kristen Stewart loves pasty teen vampires. Turns out she also loves rock 'n' roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby...

The Twilight star has signed on to play Joan Jett in the biopic The Runaways, about the punk practitioner's 1970s all-girl rock band responsible for "Cherry Bomb," "Queens of Noise" and "Born to Be Bad."

Per the Hollywood Reporter, Stewart will shoot the Jett flick after she takes another turn as Bella in New Moon. The first of potentially three Twilight sequels begins shooting early next year.

Meanwhile, Johnny Depp and Neve Campbell are also hopping on today's Casting Couch...

• The Deppster has snagged the rights to the novel In the Hand of Dante as a potential starring vehicle. The plot revolves around Dante's The Divine Comedy and sports two parallel storylines, one set in the author's 14th century Italy and the other a modern-day tale about an expert (Depp) asked to confirm the authenticity of Dante's original manuscript.

• Campbell is eyeing a return to the tube in the NBC drama series The Philanthropist, about a billionaire (James Purefoy) who uses his vast wealth to help people. The former Party of Fiver would play the wife of the philanthropist's business partner (Jesse Martin).

• Craig T. Nelson is aboard for a three-episode arc on CBS' CSI: NY, playing a powerful Big Apple publishing magnate giving Gary Sinise's Mac Taylor a world of trouble.

• Brittany Murphy and Jason Lewis will topline Lifetime's Nora Roberts' Tribute, one of four thrillers based on the author's books set to air next year. Murphy plays a former child star who gets more than she bargains for when she moves into the Virginia farm that her grandmother, a legendary actress, has left her.

• VH1 has OK'd eight episodes of Tough Love, a new reality series from Drew Barrymore's Flower Films featuring matchmaker Steve Ward's boot camp for women with bad dating habits.