Justin Timberlake reconnects with Diaz

(AFP/ROBYN BECK)

Singer and actor Justin Timberlake has joined the cast of comedy Bad Teacher, playing a substitute teacher who is also the heir to a watchmaker fortune. His ex-girlfriend Cameron Diaz plays an out-of-control teacher at the junior high school.

It will be directed by Jake Kasdan who directed Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story with John C. Reilly and the acclaimed Freaks and Geeks television show.

Timberlake also stars in The Open Road, due out this summer, about the estranged son of a baseball legend on a road trip with his dad. The film features Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges ( Crazy Heart) and Ted Danson.

Timberlake will also appear in David Fincher's The Social Network, about the start-up of Facebook. Fincher's last movie was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's written by The West Wing's Aaron Sorkin, based on the book by Ben Mezrich and stars Rashida Jones. It releases October 15.

RC