Buzz Bissinger’s ‘Barbaro’ Bought By Berg

Berg Does Barbaro: Peter Berg options his cousin Buzz Bissinger’s Vanity Fair story about racehorse Barbaro, who died after a horrible injury in second leg of the Triple Crown. Shia LeBeouf already in training to play Barbaro; he’ll add 200 pounds of muscle and a second set of legs in the gym. [Variety]

Kidman in Monte Carlo: Nicole Kidman will star as a midwestern housewife who poses as a rich tourist in romantic comedy Monte Carlo, just green-lit by Fox 2000. Tom Bezucha (The Family Stone) co-wrote the screenplay and will direct. We bet the rich-tourist scenes will be a lot more convincing than the midwestern housewife scenes. [Variety]

Reilly in at Fox: Kevin Reilly, ousted last month at NBC in favor of wunderkind Ben Silverman, signs on as head of programming at Fox at the behest of his former FX cohort Peter Luguori. Luguori is bumped up to Fox entertainment chairman, a position that sounds suspiciously like an honorary title at a frat party. Choice Variety quote: “I hear when they fire me, he’s going to come run this place,” jokes ABC’s Steve McPherson. [Variety]

Patrick Is Outta Here: Longtime ESPN personality Dan Patrick, who remained at the network after better-known cohort Keith Olbermann left for cable news, is departing his radio show and TV duties in August. Patrick has reportedly already turned down offer to host The Price Is Right and has not decided what he’ll do next. [Variety]

Blondie Desperately Seeking London: Onetime Madonna film vehicle Desperately Seeking Susan will open this fall on London’s West End as a hybrid of movie adaptation and jukebox musical (using the early-eighties songs of Blondie as its score). Deborah Harry will also write a new song for the show, which is written and conceived by Peter Michael Marino. What a weird idea! We kind of hope it will be awesome. [Playbill]

A Very Doherty Christmas: Shannen Doherty will star as a professional thief forced to babysit over the Christmas season in ABC Family telefilm Christmas Caper. We know this one will be awesome. [HR]