Paramount PicturesWhat happened in Vanilla Sky isn't staying in Vanilla Sky. It is, however, getting a little less surreal.
Once and future costars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz may be reteaming for another big-screen outing, this time in a more formulaic mainstream-friendly romantic comedy.
According to Variety, the film—which is currently without a title but which has previously had the working titles of Wichita and Trouble Man—centers on an unlucky-in-love woman who keeps crossing paths with a mysterious man she meets on a blind date.
Cruise and Diaz, neither of whom has formally signed on to the project yet, are the second pair to be attached to the lead roles. Last year the film appeared ready to go with Chris Tucker and Eva Mendes but never got off the ground. Walk the Line's James Mangold is on board to direct the flick, currently in the midst of a rewrite. No start date has been set.
Not to be outdone or upstaged, Cruise ex Nicole Kidman is Woody Allen's latest muse, while Orlando Bloom, Uma Thurman, a potentially homeless Isaiah Washington and Donald Sutherland round out today's casting news.
• Woody Allen's next passion play is beginning to look a lot like the U.N. Aussie Nicole Kidman is the latest star to join the ever-neurotic auteur's forthcoming ensemble, which, as ever, is relatively scarce on details. Per Variety, she joins Antonio Banderas, Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto and Josh Brolin in the comedy.
• Main Street is in full Bloom. Orlando Bloom and '80s icon Andrew McCarthy are the latest thesps to join the drama, centering on people in small-town North Carolina whose lives are shaken up when a stranger arrives. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Bloom will play a policeman in the pic, which also stars Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson and Colin Firth. Cameras roll next month.
• This ought to help him pay the rent: Isaiah Washington has signed on to star as legendary singer Lou Rawls in a planned biopic of the late soul, blues, funk and R&B singer. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the film will be based on Through the Eyes of a Son, an uncensored account of the crooner's traumatic life written by the singer's son, Lou Rawls Jr.
• The gods have spoken—and been cast. Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean have accepted the calling to star as Greek gods Medusa, Chiron and Zeus, respectively, in the fantasy adventure flick Percy Jackson. According to Variety, the film, directed by Chris Columbus, centers on Poseidon's 12-year-old half-human son, who is forced to travel across America to save his mom, find Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and stop an all-out Greek god war. Production kicks off next month for a 2010 release.
• What hath Edward Cullen wrought? Vampire Diaries, for a start. Former Lost pretty boy Ian Somerhalder is in talks to star in the CW drama pilot, which, per Variety, revolves around two bloodsucking brothers—one good, one evil—who share a passion for a human girl.
• Donald Sutherland is going Eastman-bound. The Dirty Sexy Money star has signed on to topline the CBS drama pilot The Eastmans, centering, per the Hollywood Reporter, on a dysfunctional family of doctors. Sutherland will play the cardiologist patriarch of the clan.