* I simply can't get enough of Julianne Hough right now. Shock to me, too, folks. The ex-Dancing With the Stars champ has been charming and perky plus in the musically-charged Footloose and Rock of Ages, and now that she's hooked up with Diablo Cody(Juno), her career is really starting to take off. Already set to star in Cody's directorial debut, Lamb of God, Hough has now signed on for Time and a Half, which Cody wrote and will be directed by Ol Parker(The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). Hough will play a college grad who runs into a guy who happens to be her sister's ex-high school boyfriend, and also the partner of the man she just had a one night stand with. Oops. Production won't begin until some time next year. Hough is currently filming the Nicholas Sparks adaptation, Safe Haven. [Variety]
* Are we looking at the emergence of a cinematic Tom Clancy universe? Certainly looks that way. Paramount is set to ink a deal with Christopher McQuarrie to adapt Clancy's 1993 novel, Without Remorse, which feautures the character of John Kelly, aka Mr. Clark. The character turned up on screen in both Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears, played by Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber respectively. With the deal all but a go, it's looking like the film will be set in the same world as Kenneth Branagh's Jack Ryan reboot starring Chris Pine, and if Kevin Costner takes on the role he was recently offered, he may even crossover. Wowsers. [Deadline]
* Justin Lin(Fast Five) is set to direct L.A. Riots, based on the infamous events that took place in Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King trial twenty years ago. Spike Lee had been previously set to direct the film, based on a script by John Ridley(Red Tails), but it's unclear if what he wrote remains in play. Lin is currently filming Fast and Furious 6, which is slated to hit theaters next May 24th.
