Gerard Butler, Steve Carell, Shailene Woodley: New projects in Casting Net

• Gerard Butler is nearing a deal to headline Manhunt, a thriller about an F.B.I. team hunting a domestic terrorist in the North Carolina mountains. Breck Eisner (The Crazies) would direct. [Deadline]

• Steve Carell and Toni Collette are boarding The Way, Way Back, the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriters Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (The Descendants). The indie drama follows a young boy with an neglectful mother (Collette) and a lout of a stepfather (Carell). The cast also includes Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, and Annasophia Robb. [Variety]

• Speaking of The Descendants, Shailene Woodley is attached to star in The Spectacular Now, an adaptation of Tim Tharp‘s coming-of-age novel, about a teenage girl who confronts an alcoholic classmate. James Ponsoldt (Sundance hit Smashed) will direct. [Variety]

• Boardwalk Empire‘s dearly departed Michael Pitt has found his next project: He’ll produce and star in You Can’t Win, about the loose fraternity of hobos hopping trails in the early 20th century. [THR]

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