Danny Strong's J.D. Salinger film Rebel in the Rye has just added Kevin Spacey to its cast, but not as the acclaimed author of The Catcher in the Rye. That role was previously filled by Nicholas Hoult, and he remains in place for the film, while Spacey will play Whit Burnet, one of Salinger's mentors and an editor at Story Magazine. The film will chronicle Salinger's childhood, attempt to break into the New York literary circle of the 1940s, his time on the frontlines during WWII, his enduring great love and terrible loss, and the PTSD-fueled writer’s block which led to a spiritual awakening. [Deadline]
Leslie Mann has stepped in to replace Jennifer Aniston in The Comedian, which stars Robert De Niro as an acerbic insult comic. Mann plays a woman who surprisingly befriends him at a wedding both are attending. Taylor Hackford (Ray) is directing, with many of the film's insult gags written by comedian Jeffrey Ross. Aniston, who had just joined last fall, had to exit due to scheduling. [Variety]
