Daddy Issues: Eric Bana is in negotiations to join Saoirse Ronan in Hanna, the tale a 14-year-old girl whose father raises her to be a killer. After discovering what life is like for those who aren’t killing machines, she is dragged back into her old life and must fight her way to freedom. Bana will play her father in a return to ass-kicking action a briefly delving into sci-fi in A Time Traveler’s Wife. [Heat Vision/HR]
Draw!: CBS Films is currently in the casting-stage for its Gunsmoke movie and is having trouble deciding who should play leading man Marshal Matt Dillion. They need someone to play “an action hero who also has depth and period cachet” and the top contenders are Brad Pitt and Ryan Reynolds. But we’re not sure why they don’t just make this easier on everyone and cast Matt Dillion. [LA Times]
Joe Knows: Joe Simpson, patriarch of the powerful and influential Simpson family, has landed his own show on Nickelodeon. The comedy series, which Simpson will executive produce, is loosely based on his real-life experience of raising two girls in Texas. Only in the fictionalized version, he’ll keep them both far away from John Mayer. [HR]
Knock Out: Jonathan Demme and Walter Mosley are teaming up for HBO to co-write a pilot based on the novelist’s new detective series The Long Fall. Demme will direct the pilot, which will introduce an ex-boxer turned private eye. Both Mosely and Demme will executive produce, along with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. Mike Tyson, who couldn’t really display his acting chops any more than he already has, will, if there is just God, star. [Deadline]
Reality Bites: VH1 has given the greenlight to an untitled movie from Queen Latifah’s production company. The untitled comedic drama is about two best friends, one an aspiring fashion mogul and the other a music video dancer. The pick-up is part of VH1’s attempt to balance its heavy reality lineup with some scripted material. Music videos, however, are not an option [Variety]
