Island Bound: Dwayne Johnson will star in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. Brendan Fraser played the lead in the 2008 film but is not returning “after hitting an impasse over start dates.” Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) will be reprising his role as “burgeoning explorer” Sean Anderson. The Rock will be playing the boyfriend of Hutcherson’s mom, whom Hutcherson is “forced to bring on a trip to a mythical and monstrous island to find his missing grandfather.” Considering the muscle quotient upgrade represented by the Rock’s casting, Hutcherson should be thankful he didn’t correspondingly get replaced by Taylor Lautner. [Heat Vision/HR]
Real Housewife: Joan Cusack has joined the cast of Showtime’s new drama series Shameless. She’ll appear in all twelve episodes of the series as Sheila, an “agoraphobic Chicago housewife” with a sexually active daughter who strikes up a “special friendship” with William H. Macy’s character. Cusack is replacing Allison Janney, who played Sheila in the pilot but had to pull out due to her commitment to ABC’s Mr. Sunshine. [Deadline]
Jazzed: Mary J. Blige and Jazmine Sullivan will be teaming up for a tour this fall, beginning October 2 in Atlanta and including two New York dates on October 11 and 12. Blige sang Sullivan’s praises during an appearance on 106 & Park Tuesday: “[Sullivan’s] my sister. I love this girl’s voice and spirit. Jazmine Sullivan is for real, and she’s going on the road with me.” [MTV]
Whale Tale: Ted Danson and Vinessa Shaw have joined Ken Kwapis’s Everybody Loves Whales. Danson will play a “win-at-all-costs oilman” who couldn’t care less about saving the mammals. Shaw will portray a White House staffer who is in favor of saving the whales. The film stars Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski and Kristen Bell. [HR]
Swimming With the Sharks: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, and Idol alum Katharine McPhee are joining the cast of Shark Night 3D, centering on a group of college buddies who spend the weekend at a lake house only to discover “all sorts of dangerous sharks lurking beneath the waters.” This begs the question of which is scarier: facing a critique from Simon Cowell or getting attacked by a shark. [Variety]
Budget Living: Screenwriters Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse have been hired by Fox to write a screenplay for an untitled family film based on the writings of W. Hodding Carter, who detailed his “drastic real-life efforts to scale down his family’s spending.” Carter decided his family of six should try to live on $550 per month after he determined they were “living far beyond [their] means in rural Maine.” No surprise, the tale sees them becoming “project rich,” living happier and sunnier lives. [Risky Business/HR]
