Casting Net: Justin Timberlake drinking in 'The Last Drop.' Plus: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank

• Justin Timberlake is negotiating to star in The Last Drop, a romance about a food critic for New York magazine who realizes his love of alcohol is getting in the way of a budding relationship. Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) is directing the indie from the Black List screenplay by Brandon and Phil Murphy. [Variety]

• Nicolas Cage is attached to star in Amicus, a thriller based on the true story of a hired assassin who used a book called Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors to help him carry out the murder of his client’s wife, paralyzed son, and the son’s caretaker. The victims’ families then hired real-life First Amendment expert Rodney Smolla (Cage) to sue the publisher of the book. Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, The Box) is writing and directing the independent production. [Variety]

• Meryl Streep and Hilary Swank are attached to the sale of distribution rights to Tommy Lee Jones‘ next directorial effort, The Homesman, a period Western about a pioneer man (Jones) and woman (Swank) tasked with bringing three mentally ill women through the American frontier. Along with directing and starring in the film, Jones is also penning the screenplay and producing. [TheWrap]

• Speaking of Hilary Swank, the two-time Oscar winner is also set to star in You’re Not You, about a woman with a terminal illness (Swank) and the wayward twentysomething woman who becomes her caretaker. George C. Wolfe (Nights in Rodanthe) will direct the adaptation of Michelle Wildgen’s novel by screenwriters Shana Feste (Country Strong) and Jordan Roberts (3, 2, 1…Frankie Go Boom). [Variety]

• David Thewlis (the Harry Potter series) has joined director Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem, about a computer mastermind (Christoph Waltz) hoping to divine the meaning of life. Pat Rushin wrote the script. [The Playlist/Voltage Pictures]

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