Tucker tapped for The Ruins

Jonathan Tucker (The Black Donnellys, In the Valley of Elah) will star in The Ruins, DreamWorks’ adaptation of the best-selling Scott B. Smith novel. Red Hour Films’ Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld are producing. Tucker will star as Jeff, an ambitious premed student, in the thriller about a group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when Jeff persuades them to go on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins. Production starts in late May. (Hollywood Reporter)

Coens set up second project with Focus and Working Title

Joel and Ethan Coen set up A Serious Man with Focus Features and Working Title, the second (along with Burn After Reading) of a two-movie deal the brothers made with the companies. Both stories are being kept under wraps, but Man is being described as a dark comedy in the vein of Fargo. Burn After Reading is set to start shooting this summer with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Frances McDormand. Past Coen Brother movies with Working Title include Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Man Who Wasn’t There. (Variety)

Kathy Bates to star alongside Titanic costars in Revolutionary Road

Kathy Bates will join Titanic co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Sam Mendes’ 1950s-set drama Revolutionary Road for DreamWorks. The story, adapted by Justin Haythe from Richard Yates’ critically acclaimed 1961 novel, is about a suburban Connecticut couple and the deterioration of their relationship. Bates will play Mrs. Givings, who sells the couple their home and introduces them to the town. Also added to the project are Michael Shannon (World Trade Center, Vanilla Sky), who will play the son of Bates’ character, and Zoe Kazan (Fracture), who will play Maureen, secretary of DiCaprio’s character, with whom she embarks on an affair. Shooting starts in June. (Hollywood Reporter)