They’re With the Brand: Jennifer Garner and Nick Nolte are in talks to join the cast of Arthur, the Warner Bros. remake of the 1981 comedy. Russell Brand and Helen Mirren are already onboard the Jason Winer film, about a happy-go-lucky drunk (Brand) who is told by his mother (Mirren) that he must marry a wealthy heiress (Garner) instead of the poor girl he loves (Greta Gerwig). Nolte will play Garner’s “deeply religious” father, who most certainly will not be pleased when Brand ditches both girls for a pop star who sings about kissing girls! [HR]
What a Rush: As expected, Geoffrey Rush will be returning for a fourth time to play Captain Hector Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Phew — we were briefly worried the delay here might have been related to Rush not passing the implants test. [Variety]
Ring the Bells: Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells will ride their mounting buzz into their first headlining North American tour. The U.S. portion of the trek, which begins in Baltimore on July 1, will feature openers Nerve City and Popo. The Bells will then head to Europe for a few Scandinavian festivals in August. Getting tickets now will ensure Treats later. [Pitchfork]
Double Trouble: Stana Katic (Castle) and Odette Yustman (Cloverfield) have joined the cast of The Double, a spy thriller about a retired CIA operative (Richard Gere) who teams up with a young FBI agent (Topher Grace) to hunt down the killer of a senator. Katic will play a “feisty” Russian prostitute who is guarding important information, while Yustman will play Grace’s wife, a “strong” woman who raises a family while “coping with her husband’s Bureau career.” Whoa, what unique and original female roles! [Heat Vision/HR]
From Fake Trailer to Real Movie: Legendary has picked up a pitch by Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) to write a live-action remake of Technotise, a Serbian animated film. The original movie, set in Belgrade in the year 2074, is focused on a failing art student who decides to get a chip implant to avoid studying but gets “more than she bargained for.” The studio, in an unusual move, had a fake trailer for the film made last year — which combined Milla Jovovich clips with those from an array of other movies — that went viral and generated interested in the live-action remake. Let’s hope this doesn’t give that “David After Dentist” dad any ideas. [Heat Vision/HR]
The Right Bluff: NBC has picked up the pilot for a game show hosted by D.L. Hughley called Who’s Bluffing Who? The show will feature contestants attempting to “bluff their way” into winning $500,000, as “seven contestants will use their knowledge and deceptive talents — and even steal one another’s money — in order to advance in the game as they are gradually reduced to a single winner.” We would try to make a joke here if we understood that description to any degree. [HR]
