Sure Shots: Jacki Weaver; Cloud Atlas; Robert Duvall

* Jacki Weaver should've won an Oscar for her villainous turn as matriarch "Smurf" Cody in last year's Animal Kingdom, but just being nominated has given her a career boost like nobody else. The Aussie actress has been plugging away for forty years and it's good to see her finally get the credit she deserves. Just a few weeks after joining Park Chan-Wook's english language debut, Stoker, Weaver has now signed on to David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook. She'll play the mother to Bradley Cooper's character, an ex-high school teacher recently released from a mental facility and trying to put his life back together. Jennifer Lawrence is locked for the role of a neighbor and possibly love interest, while Robert De Niro reportedly set to play Cooper's father, and Chris Tucker circling a role as well. [THR]

* The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer(Run Lola Run) are already shooting their adaptation of Cloud Atlas, but apparently there's still room to cast another fast rising actor. James D'Arcy(Master and Commander) has joined the cast of the complex, gender bending sci-fi film, following six nested stories spanning from the 19th century into the far off future. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Halle Berry, Ben Whishaw, Hugo Weaving, Bae Doona, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and Jim Sturgess star. [Variety]

* I'm convinced Tom Cruise will make the least believable hardcore soldier ever in Christopher McQuarrie's One Shot, based on the Lee Child novels about ex-miliary man Jack Reacher. But the cast surrounding Cruse should make up for it. The legendary Robert Duvall has joined the cast according to Variety, although his role is unclear. David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, and Alexia Fast co-star in the film about Reacher's investigation into a sniper's alledged killing of five people.