Casting Net: Ewan McGregor to star in heist thriller Son of a Gun. Plus: Penelope Cruz, Ryan Reynolds, Jason ...

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SuaveEwan McGregor is set to star in the Australian heist thrillerSon of a Gun, playing Australias public enemy no. 1, who takes on a protege.Up-and-coming director Julius Avery is helming the project from his own original screenplay. The movie is being touted as a cross between gritty Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom, and Michael Manns bank robbery opus Heat. McGregor has already been reaping critical accolades for his role as a father and husband in emotional tsunami drama The Impossible with Naomi Watts.[THR]

Penelope Cruz, always put together in designer duds and sky-high heels, is in talks to star in a film titled Gucci, about the Italian family at the core of the iconic fashion brand. The movie is being directed byRidley Scotts daughter Jordan Scott, and has apparently gone through a plethora of iterations, from Ridley Scott himself at first being on board as director in 2006, with a script by Andrea Berloff, to other writers brought in since then. The brands founders grandson, Maurizio Gucci, was shot to death in 1995, with his ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, later imprisoned for the murder. [TheWrap.com]

Ryan Reynoldsis attached to headline sure to be zippyBattle for Bonneville, withJon Favreau set to direct. The film, written by ! Dan Gilroy, who co-wrote The Bourne Legacy,is about real-life half-brothers and race track rivals Art and Walt Arfons, who joined forces to set world speed records. Busy busy Favreau is in pre-production on a film adaptation of the musicalJersey Boys, about the Four Seasons. [Deadline]

Jason Schwartzman has confirmed he will indeed be in Wes AndersonsThe Grand Budapest Hotel. No big surprise there, considering Schwartzman has starred in several of Anderson films, includingRushmoreandThe Darjeeling Limited, plus this years nostalgicMoonrise Kingdom. Details have been murky aboutHotel, set in Europe, but Bill Murray, Ralph Fiennes, Owen Wilson and Jude Law are also attached. Anderson is directing from his own script. [Movies.com]

James Franco, Glenn CloseandBrit Marlingare set tostar inThe Grace that Keeps This World, an adaptation of Tom Baileys novel about a father and his sons prepping for hunting season, and a young cops investigation into hunting violations that unearths family differences. Azazel Jacobs will direct from a screenplay by Matthew Aldrich.[Deadline]

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