Sure Shots: Naomi Watts; Hayley Atwell; 'The Bible'

* For his directorial debut, St. Vincent De Van Nuys, Ted Melfi is putting together a cast that any filmmaker would gladly trade-in their mother for. Already having secured the talents of Bill Murray, Chris O'Dowd, and Melissa McCarthy, Melfi has now added Naomi Watts to the cast. The film puts Murray into the role of a cantankerous, hard-drinking, hard-living neighbor who becomes the chief influence on the 12-year old boy of a single mother played by McCarthy. Watts will play a Russian prostitute who forms a close bond with Murray's character. Melfi also wrote the script, which was features on the 2011 Black List. [Deadline]

* Gemma Arterton had long been enthusiastically attached to a film based on the life of war photographer Robert Capa, but when Tom Hiddleston came aboard just last week, it was revealed she had dropped out. But with Hiddleston in the lead role, his presence appears to have gone a long way in securing another Marvel movie alum to join him. Hayley Atwell, best known for her role as Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger, will play photographer Gerda Taro in the film, which we now know will be titled Close Enough. Directed by Paul Andrew Williams, the story will center on the relationship between Capa and Taro while n Paris in the 1930s, culminating in the events of Spanish Civil War. Filming is set to begin this June. [ScreenDaily]

*Admit it, you thought it was stupid when Mark Burnett (Survivor) set out to put The Bible on TV as a mini-series. Well it worked out like gangbusters for the reality TV maven and The History Channel, as it was far away the highest-rated show in their history. Burnett wants to bring that success from the small to the big screen by releasing a 3-hour version into theaters. Similar to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, Burnett is seriously considering distributing the film himself. I watched it for awhile out of curiosity, and found it to be a well-made piece of fiction. The Bible could make for a pretty awesome action movie.