the industry

McShane in Talks to Play Pirates 4 Villain

Back to Black(beard): Deadwood’s Ian McShane is in talks to play the villain Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the upcoming fourth film in the series. The Rob Marshall–helmed movie, from a script by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, would pit McShane as the nemesis of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, who is on a quest for the Fountain of Youth. Though let’s hope he doesn’t actually reach the fountain or we’ll be dealing with these sequels for the next 50 years. [Variety]

Cheaters: Kevin James is in talks to join Ron Howard’s “untitled cheating project” (that’s seriously how The Hollywood Reporter is referring to it) for Universal, starring Vince Vaughn. The plot centers on a man (James) who finds out his best friend’s wife is having an affair, and then must figure out what to do next. Frankly, we’d be more interested in a story about an Oscar winner who finds out he’s directing an “untitled cheating project” with Kevin James, and then must figure out what to do next. [HR]

Life After Jim: Jim Belushi will star in the CBS legal-drama pilot The Defenders, written by Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy and directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). Coming off of a long stint on the comedy series According to Jim, Belushi will play a Las Vegas attorney with Draper-esque “marital and drinking issues,” marking perhaps the only time “Belushi” and “Draper” (debatably) belong in the same sentence. [Variety]

Who Gets the Leads?: Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) and Adam Arkin (Sons of Anarchy) will play the leads in ABC’s comedy pilot Who Gets The Parents?, in which they portray a couple who divorces after 30 years of marriage, both taking on more active roles in the lives of their three adult children. Which makes us wonder … what does Dewey look like now? [HR]

Killer Instinct
: Kenny Golde’s script Killer has been snatched up by Hyde Park Entertainment and Parkes/MacDonald Productions, who will produce the film together. The story follows a “rogue police officer” who finds a video left by a killer, setting off a chase, “with the investigator several steps behind his prey” … and months behind the release of the identically titled Katherine Heigl–Ashton Kutcher rom-com. [Variety]

McShane in Talks to Play Pirates 4 Villain