* Tarsem Singh(Mirror Mirror) has been attached to direct a big screen biopic on Marco Polo, best known for his travels that took him to vast parts of Asia, documented in the travelogue, Books of the Marvels of the World. So it makes sense to have one of China's biggest stars be a part of the action, with Gong Li(Memoirs of a Geisha) being the first to officially come aboard in the role of a Mongolian princess. The joint US/China production still has a long way to go before lensing takes place, a a Marco Polo still needs to be found. The plan is to possibly begin shooting later this year. [Screen Daily]
* If you're trying to add a little geek cred to your low profile sci-fi flick, there can be no better way than adding Dana Scully herself, Gilllian Anderson, to the cast. The X-Files star is set to join other genre faves Haley Joel Osment(The Sixth Sense) and Rufus Sewell(Dark City) in I'll Follow You Down, from writer/director Richie Mehta(Amal). Anderson will play the mother of a family trying to cope with the disappearance of her scientist husband while away on a business trip. Years later, they make a bizarre discover that may be the key to bringing him home. Victor Garber also co-stars. [Deadline]
* Randall Wallace's claim to fame came as the writer for Mel Gibson's Braveheart, for which he earned a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination. Since then he's been sorta middling in his efforts, especially when jumping behind the camera. He last directed the 2010 horse racing period drama, Secretariat, which was...well, just ok. Wallace will next direct The Conscientious Objector, a biopic on the life of Desmond Doss, who during the time of WWII became the first conscientious objector to earn the Medal of Honor. Refusing to ever kill or carry a weapon into combat, Doss served in the US Army as a medic. The script comes from Robert Schenkkan, who received an Oscar nomination as writer of The Quiet American. [TheWrap]
