Gerard Butler, James Franco, Colin Firth fall into Casting Net

• Gerard Butler revs up for Motor City, where Jake Gyllenhaal and Dominic Cooper stalled. (Both actors’ deals fell through due to scheduling conflicts.) Butler will join Amber Heard and Gary Oldman in the ex-con-with-a-vendetta action flick. [Variety]

• Colin Firth may play an aristocrat who becomes quadriplegic after a tragic accident in Untouchable. Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is also in talks to direct the remake of the French dramedy (originally called The Intouchables). [Variety]

• True Story: Jonah Hill is set to face off against James Franco. Brad Pitt‘s production company Plan B is producing the stranger-than-fiction tale about New York Times journalist Michael Finkel (Hill), who must come face to face with accused murderer Christian Longo (Franco) after Longo steals Finkel’s identity and flees to Mexico. [Deadline]

• Grown Ups 2 is close to snagging Oliver Cooper, the star of high school raunch-com Project X. Cooper will join original cast members Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Maya Rudolph, and Salma Hayek, who are all expected to return for the sequel. [THR]

• Lincoln‘s Hal Holbrook moves from a “house divided” to the Promised Land. Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, and Rosemarie DeWitt also star in the film about a fish-out-of-water corporate executive (Damon) who moves to a small town. Gus Van Sant took the helm after Damon stepped down earlier this year. [Variety]

• Attack the Block breakout John Boyega has two projects coming down the pipeline: He’s circling a leading role in sci-fi indie Creeping Zero, and has inked a deal to join Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton in Half of a Yellow Sun, adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s history of Nigeria’s violent fight for independence. And in a Dominic Cooper hat trick, the Devil’s Double star is also reportedly looking at a lead role in Sun. [Variety]