Here's a quick casting round up from the past few days:

• Tilda Swinton is close to watching Brad Pitt age backwards, as she's in negotiations to star alongside the Hot One in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Based on a story from F. Scott Fitzgerald and directed by David Fincher (who we're hoping learned a lesson from the dismal Panic Room and will get himself back on track), pic also stars Cate Blanchett and revolves around a man who, at age 50, suddenly begins to get younger and younger.
• Kristin Scott Thomas will play Lady Elizabeth, the mother of Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman in The Other Boleyn Girl, based on the novel by Philippa Gregory. Eric Bana is set to become the envy of every male in the world, as he will play the role of King Henry VIII, the man with whom Johansson and Portman both fight over. Bastard!
• James Caviezel (aka Jesus Christ Superstar) is in talks for the lead role in Outlander, The Weinstein Co.'s epic sci-fi flick. Directed by Howard McCain (off a script he co-wrote with Dirk Blackman), pic tells of a human-like alien who accidentally winds up on Earth in 509 AD and sets loose some horrific creature that he subsequently must destroy. The one question on his mind: What would Jesus do?
• Comedian Carlos Mencia has hopped on the Farrelly Brothers bandwagon, taking a part in their upcoming comedy, Seven Day Itch. Mencia will join Ben Stiller. who plays a man that, while on his honeymoon, accidentally falls in love with another woman. Co-starring in the flick are Michelle Monaghan and Malin Akerman. I'd expect Mencia to play some wacky guy Stiller meets (and subsequently looks for advice from) while on his trip.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• Hey, what do you know -- a story about Johnny Depp that isn't pirate-related. (Does that mean I can't call him Captain Jack? Nah.) Captain Jack's production company has tapped director Terry Zwigoff (Bad Santa) to helm Happy Days (no relation to the popular TV show), based off the French novel. Zwigoff will also co-write the script along with Jerry Stahl, with Depp's Infinitum Nihil and Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group producing. Story revolves around a man who leaves his wife and children in order to check himself into a rest home. However, while there, he forges a special bond with a terminal cancer patient and ultimately helps to fulfill her last wish.   
• Here's one way to get people to go see your movie -- just compare it to The Da Vinci Code. P.J. Hogan has signed on to direct Chasing Vermeer, based off the best-selling children's novel which is said to be like The Da Vinci Code, but for tweens. Having never read Chasing Vermeer, I cannot say how similar the two are. But I can tell you the story centers around two sixth-graders who attempt to solve the mystery behind a stolen Johannes Vermeer painting. Last I checked, the Catholic Church had nothing against sixth-graders, right?
• So, it turns out those rumors about Gwyneth Paltrow teaming back up with the Farrelly brothers were completely false. Oh well, I couldn't see her playing a bride from hell anyway. She's way too sweet. Ya know, like an apple. Instead, Peter and Bobby Farrelly have signed newcomer Malin Akerman to star alongside Ben Stiller and Michelle Monaghan in Seven Day Itch. Not much is known about Akerman, except that she's best known for her role in Lisa Kudrow's horrific HBO show The Comeback. Yes, it was horrific. And if she somehow wins the Emmy, I will officially ban TV in my apartment forever. 

Odds and ends from Wednesday:

• The other day, Martha reported on a Boston Herald article that claimed Gwyneth Paltrow had nabbed a role in Seven Day Itch, the latest Farrelly brothers comedy which is inspired by Neil Simon's The Heartbreak Kid. The article also claimed those Farrelly boys were after actress Michelle Monaghan, though nothing was even close to being certain. Okay, now reverse everything. According to Variety, Monaghan has officially snagged a role in Itch, while Dreamworks denied those Paltrow rumors claiming actresses were still reading for the part. Pic tells the story of a groom (Ben Stiller) who questions his marital commitments after meeting another woman (Monaghan) while on his honeymoon.
• America Ferrera (Wow, imagine growing up with the first name 'America'? Would you then celebrate two birthdays -- one being the day you were born and the other on independence day? That would be sweet!) has signed on to star in and executive produce the indie bilingual thriller Hacia la oscuridad (Toward Darkness) for writer/director Antonio Negret. Story revolves around the last 90 minutes in the life of a kidnapped Colombian. Ferrera is best known for her roles in Real Woman Have Curves and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
• Okay, so we all know by now that, if it were up to Johnny Depp, the actor would continue making Pirates of the Caribbean sequels forever and ever ... and ever. That's wonderful, but what about everyone else involved in the hit franchise? Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently chimed in with his thoughts on possible Pirates sequels saying that if Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio continue to come up with solid stories and Disney wants to finance them (they'd be stupid not to), then you bet your ass he's down for more. Also, when asked what he was working on now, Bruckheimer noted, as we previously reported, that he's trying to put together a sequel to 2004's National Treasure with the original cast all returning minus Sean Bean. They're currently working on a script which, like the first, will revolve around some phenomenal facts in American history.

Oh yeah, it appears those Farrelly Brothers are all over the place lately, recently signing on to direct a French remake called The Valet and now there's word the two will be reuniting with Ben Stiller hoping that there's something about the actor that will help produce at least one more successful film for the comedic duo ... if that's at all possible.

What? So sue me if Stuck on You and Fever Pitch's love letter to the Boston Red Sox (ahem, huge Yanks fan here) didn't exactly ignite my funny bone. I mean, we gave them Osmosis Jones and Shallow Hal, but c'mon -- there's only so much we can take. The pic, now titled Seven Day Itch, will be a loose remake of the 1972 Neil Simon penned, The Heartbreak Kid.

The film will follow a man (we're assuming Stiller) that marries who he thinks is the "perfect" woman, only to fall in love with someone else while on his honeymoon. Jason Bateman and Amy Poehler are also attached to star. Hmm, could this be the film that finally propels the Farrellys back amongst comedy's elite? Or was that torch passed long ago?