Casting News -- July 10, 2009

Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds, and Justin Timberlake are reportedly on the short-list to star in the upcoming Green Lantern comic book-to-film adaptation. Producers have "spent the past five months searching for the actor to play Hal Jordan, the hot-shot Air Force pilot who is chosen by a dying alien to be his successor in an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lanterns." Rumors continue to spread, but no official casting has been announced.

Mel Gibson will star in The Beaver as "a depressed man who finds solace in wearing a beaver hand-puppet." Jodie Foster will direct and co-star as his wife. Steve Carrell was previously attached to star.

Zach Galifianakis has finally chosen his first post-Hangover projects. The comedian will star in Due Date, a comedy about fatherhood in which an expectant dad and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis) race cross-country in hopes of making it home for the birth of his first child. Galifiniakis will also star in The Hangover 2. Both films will be directed by Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover).

Zooey Deschanel has joined the cast of Your Highness, a comedy starring Danny McBride as an arrogant and lazy prince who must complete a quest to save his father's kingdom. James Franco co-stars as his more heroic brother; Deschanel will play Franco's virginal bride. Natalie Portman also stars as McBride's love interest, a warrior princes.

Nicole Kidman is attached to star in and produce Little Bee, based on the bestselling novel about a "fateful encounter on an African beach in which a 16-year-old Nigerian orphan named Little Bee meets a vacationing upper-middle-class British couple who've wandered into an area outside the safety of their resort." (Didn't Kidman already make this movie when it was called Australia?)

Joaquin Valdes and Kelly Frances Lati will star in the Philippines engagement of Spring Awakening this fall. New York-born Lati stars as Wendla, opposite Valdes as Melchior; Philippine Idol finalist Miguel Mendoza also stars as Georg. Complete casting will be announced shortly. The Tony-winning musical opens Sept. 25 in Manila.

Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, and Rachelle Lefevre have been cast in Barney's Version, starring Paul Giamatti as "impulsive, irascible, and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky." Lefevre will play Clara, Barney's first wife, a wild and troubled artist; Driver plays Barney's second wife, the annoyingly loquacious Mrs. "P"; Pike plays Miriam, Barney's third wife and true love.

Taylor Kinney has joined the cast of the new NBC new medical drama series Trauma as a regular. Kinney will play Glen, a handsome EMT that joins the team in San Francisco.

Diana Vickers will star in the title role in a revival of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre. Vickers was a 2008 finalist on the TV series The X Factor. Performances begin Oct. 8, prior to an official opening Oct. 20.

-- Daniel Lehman