Theo Wargo/WireImage.comLife with twins is making Jennifer Lopez run for The Governess.
The supposedly nanny-averse actress has lined up a new postmaternity-leave project, E! News has confirmed, a romantic comedy about a professional thief who passes herself off as a nanny to a wealthy widower with three rowdy children so she can pull off the score of a lifetime. And—surprise!—she begins to fall for the family and reconsider her life of crime.
The Governess reunites her with screenwriter Kevin Wade, who penned her 2002 box-office hit, Maid in Manhattan. The script was cowritten by Wendy Braff with a polish by Don Roos. Director Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls) will roll cameras in Massachusetts in October.
Lopez apparently needs to keep Emme and Max in diapers. Before work begins on The Governess, she's set to star in Roos' next directorial effort, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, with Lisa Kudrow. That project should begin shooting soon for a 2009 release.
In other casting news, former 90210 denizen Luke Perry is among the guest stars on the Sept. 23 season premiere of Law & Order: SVU. NBC confirms that Roseanne's Sara Gilbert and Lost's Julie Bowen will also appear on the opener.
The plot focuses on a couple (Perry and Bowen) accused of abusing their foster child. Gilbert plays the kid's biological mom.
Meanwhile, sunny days are chasing the clouds away and attracting all kinds of people to Sesame Street this season.
The Muppet-happy thoroughfare will be the destination of choice for guests like David Beckham, Jessica Alba, Jack Black, Feist, Neil Patrick Harris, Heidi Klum, Jenny McCarthy, Will Arnett, Jason Taylor, LL Cool J, Chandra Wilson, Molly Shannon, Patrick Warburton, Jonah Hill, Brian Williams, Gilbert Godfrey, Megan Mullally, Randy Jackson and Sandra Oh.
Big Bird and pals get back to work for the new season on Aug. 11.
Finally, here are some of today's other notable Hollywood deals.
- Denis Leary has been tapped to host the Fashion Rocks gala for CBS. Performers for the event, which celebrates fashion and music, include: Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Chris Brown, Kid Rock, Duffy, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, Lil Wayne, Keith Urban, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Chris Cornell, One Republic, Pussycat Dolls, Solange Knowles and Timbaland with special guest Lynyrd Skynyrd. The special airs Sept. 9.
- Nick at Nite has ordered 20 episodes of Glen Martin DDS, a stop-motion animated comedy series developed by former Disney cheese Michael Eisner and Celebrity Deathmatch mastermind Eric Fogel. The story centers on a dentist who convinces his family to head out on a cross-country road trip in their toothbrush-topped "dental mobile."
- John Boorman (Deliverance) has signed a deal with U.K.-based Handmade Films to put up $50 million to $60 million for Hadrian, his long-gestating biopic on the legendary Roman emperor and philosopher. Casting is now under way, and the epic is slated to start production next spring in Morocco, Rome and Spain.
- Oz-based helmer Baz Luhrmann has signed on to conceive and produce a special international campaign for Tourism Australia. The promotion will kick off in October as his latest film, Australia, a romantic epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, begins its awards-season run.
- Former New Line cochairs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are looking to turn Isaac Asimov's classic sci-fi Foundation series into an LOTR-type franchise.
- CBS is working on an updated version of the classic 1970s cops drama The Streets of San Francisco, which originally ran on ABC for five seasons and starred Michael Douglas and Karl Malden.
- Xingu Films, the company run by Sting's wife Trudie Styler, has snagged the film rights to American Reaper, a soon-to-be-released graphic novel about identity thieves who erase victims' memories. A group of special agents, called Reapers, must hunt down the baddies.
- Up-and-comer Rachael Taylor (Transformers) has come aboard Splinterheads, a comedy set in the world of carnies. The 24-year-old will play a carnival con artist who hoodwinks a twentysomething loafer only to end up bonding with him. Lea Thompson and Christopher McDonald costar in the flick, written and directed by Brant Sersen.