Octavia Spencer Joins 'Las Madres'; Frank Langella Sails 'Driftless Area'; Nikki Reed Rides 'The Sunday Horse'

* Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer has joined Leslie Mann in the female bounty hunter comedy, Las Madres. No director is on board yet but Pam Brady's script centers on three unemployed friends who decide to make some cash by tracking down a dangerous criminal and claiming the reward. [Variety]

* John Hawkes, Alia Shawkat, Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, and Ciaran Hinds will have some company in Driftless Area as Frank Langella has come aboard. Tom Drury's novel will be directed by Zachary Sluser, with Deschanel as an enigmatic woman who falls in love with a bartender played by Yelchin. Their romance is complicated when they happen upon a bag of stolen cash, drawing the attention of a volatile criminal played by Hawkes.

* Twilight's Nikki Reed will play U.S. equestrian champion Debi Connor in The Sunday Horse. Directed by Vic Armstrong (Left Behind) and sounding like it could draw in the faith-based crowd, it tells the story of how Connor overcame a tough upbringing and a near-fatal accident to win the championship on a horse that was saved from being slaughtered. Good vibes all around. [Deadline]

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Leslie Mann Hunts Down 'Las Madres'; Lena Headey is 'Jacqueline Ess'; Ming-Na Wen Joins '6 Miranda Drive'

* Leslie Mann can currently be seen in the terrible but money-raking comedy The Other Woman, about three scorned women who get revenge on the man they hate. Now Mann is set to lead Las Madres, which is about three unemployed friends who decide to earn a buck by tracking down a wanted criminal with a price on his head. Way to stretch there! No director is on board yet but Pam Brady is rewriting Lona Williams' original script. [Variety]

* In HBO's Game of Thrones, Lena Headey plays the evil and manipulative Cersei Lannister, a woman more than willing to use sex to get what she wants. Headey will play a similar character now in Jacqueline Ess, an adaptation of Clive Barker's short story about a woman who achieves the ability to transform people’s bodies at will. She uses this power to grant men their greatest desires, but always at a fatal cost. Jovanka Vukovic will make her directorial debut on the film which will shoot later this year. [Variety]

* Ming-Na Wen will take a break from hopping the globe in Agents of SHIELD to star in 6 Miranda Drive, a small-budget horror from the folks at Blumhouse Productions. Directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and starring Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell, the film centers on a family who bring back a supernatural force from their vacation to the Grand Canyon. Seriously.

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