Screentalk: Cumberbatch to star with Streep

Our contact at The Hollywood Reporter gives us the insider gossip from Tinseltown

Benedict Cumberbatch is being lined up to turn out opposite Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in the big screen version of August: Osage County. In this adaptation of the Pulitzer and Tony-winning drama, Cumberbatch will play the sensitive son of Streep’s character’s sister, played by Margo Martindale.

Booth in talks for Kick Ass sequel

Lindy Booth is in talks to play Night Bitch, a superhero with no powers, in Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall. Directed by Jeff Wadlow, the sequel sees Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz reprise their respective roles of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl with Christopher Mintz-Plasse returning as the villainous Red Mist.

Will Jolie take on Cleopatra?

Hollywood is getting hot under the collar about Cleopatra with Columbia Pictures, courting Ang Lee to direct a movie starring Angelina Jolie. The project has been coveted by directors since Scott Rudin acquired Stacy Schiff’s non-fiction book Cleopatra: A Life and began developing it as a Jolie vehicle.

McTiernan faces jail over wiretaps

Die Hard director John McTiernan faces 12 months in prison for his links with the private investigator Anthony Pellicano and illegal wiretaps. The case has bounced around for five years. The filmmaker was first indicted for hiring Pellicano to wiretap The Dark Knight Rises producer Chuck Roven.

DeGeneres set for Nemo sequel

Ellen DeGeneres is being lured back to reprise her role in Disney/Pixar’s planned Finding Nemo sequel. Assuming a successful cast, DeGeneres would voice Dory, a fish suffering from short-term memory loss. Writer/director Andrew Stanton, who wrote the original 2003 film and co-directed it, is set to return.

Gaghan’s Candy Store irresistible

Writer-director Stephen Gaghan has written a crime-thriller, Candy Store. Such is the Oscar-winning scribe’s draw, the script already has Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington sniffing around. No deals are done but if the film comes together it would mark Gaghan’s highest-profile directing project since 2005’s Syriana.