* Earlier this year we learned that Reese Witherspoon was set to produce an adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's Wild: From Lost To Found On The Pacific Crest Trail, a memoir of her 1100-mile solo hike from the Mojave Desert to Washington State after experiencing a number of personal tragedies. Lisa Cholodenko(The Kids are All Right) was hired to pen the script, but she's now out and Nick Hornby(High Fidelity) is taking her place. While generally considered a writer who specializes in the way men think, he did a fantastic job with An Education just a couple of years ago. So he may be just the guy for the job. A search for a director and a young star should now be underway. Reese isn't expected to star since the character is intended to be in her early 20s. [Deadline]
* In a profile of up 'n coming writer Kevin Costello, we've learned that Jon Hamm is circling Epic Fail, a comedy to be produced by Sheldon Turner(Up in the Air) and Jennifer Klein. Directed by Mark Teitelman, who used to run Monday Night Football for awhile, the film follows a "down-on-his-luck high school teacher who recruits two students to stage his wife's kidnapping so he can play the hero and rekindle their marriage." [Variety]
* We've already seen some shots from the London production of Tom Cruise's All You Need is Kill, but apparently there's still room to add a solid actress to the cast. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who most recently appeared in the education drama Won't Back Down, will take on the role of scientist Dr. Whittle. Directed by Doug Liman and co-starring Emily Blunt, the film follows a newly recruited soldier(Cruise) in a war against aliens who is killed yet keeps reliving the moment of his death repeatedly, improving and becoming a better warrior along the way. Jean-Baptiste will be seen next in the Robocop remake. [Variety]
