Natalie Portman, James McAvoy, Hailee Steinfeld: New projects in Casting Net

• From pointe shoes to boot spurs: Natalie Portman is attached to the western Jane Got a Gun, about a woman forced to defend her home from outlaws looking to kill off her barely-alive husband. Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) is attached to direct. No word on whether the title is meant to evoke the Aerosmith classic or not. [THR]

• James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) has joined Jessica Chastain in the fascinating cinema experiment The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, which will explore the lives of a married couple in two separate feature-length films from their respective points of view, subtitled Him and Her. McAvoy takes over for Joel Edgerton, who had been attached in the role. Ned Benson (In Defiance of Gravity) will direct both films from his screenplays. [Variety]

• True Grit star Hailee Steinfeld is in talks to star in an adaptation of the Daniel Handler comic novel Why We Broke Up, about a high school sophomore dealing with her split from her boyfriend, a senior. Handler penned the screenplay, and TV comedy director Beth McCarthy-Miller (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live) will direct. [Deadline]

• Mark Duplass (Humpday) will play a supporting role in the Osama bin Laden drama Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. [Deadline]

• Rapper-actor T.I. has joined the Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy Identity Thief as a bounty hunter. [Deadline]

Follow @adambvary

Casting Net: ‘Iron Man 3′ lands new villain

Casting Net: Chris Pine to engage in ‘Mantivities.’ Plus: Amy Adams, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper