Casting Net: 'The Terminator' in talks to play the Exterminator in 'Toxic Avenger' reboot; Plus, Olivia Wilde, more

• Arnold Schwarzenegger is in talks to star in a reboot of The Toxic Avenger to play the Exterminator, who helps the Toxic Avenger (a weak kid who has an unfortunate accident at a toxic chemicals plant) learn to use his newfound powers for good. So, they team up to take on the evil polluters. Writer and director Steve Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine) is leading the adaptation, and Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz (directors of the 1984 cult classic) will serve as executive producers. [Deadline]

• Olivia Wilde (TRON) and Mark Duplass (The League) are set to star in Reawakening, a medical thriller about some students who figure out how to bring people back from the dead. David Gelb, who directed the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, will make his feature narrative debut on the project. Besides her turn in the independent comedy Drinking Buddies, Wilde can be seen next in Ron Howard’s Rush. Duplass also has a number of acting projects on the horizon including the JFK assassination drama Parkland. [Variety]

• Billy Crystal is set to star in Winter’s Discontent, a 2008 Black List script about a widower who moves into a retirement community and tries to revive his sex life. Frank Oz (director of Bowfinger, voice of Yoda) has signed on to direct the comedy, which seems to fit rather well with the recent spate of second act films. Crystal appeared recently in the comedy Parental Guidance and can be heard reprising his role as Mike Wazowski in Monsters University, which hits theaters on June 21. [Deadline]

• Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained) is attached to play the President of the United States in the adventure film Big Game. When Air Force One gets shot down, Jackson’s character is discovered on the ground by a 13-year-old boy, and they team up to try to survive. Finnish director Jalmari Helander will make his English language debut on the project. [Deadline]

• True Grit star Hailee Steinfeld has joined the cast of Phillip Noyce’s For The Dogs, alongside Sam Worthington (Avatar). She’ll play a teenager who joins forces with a lone assassin to get revenge on the people who killed her parents and brother. It sounds like the exact plot of The Professional. [Deadline]

• Foreign beauties Matthais Schoenarts (Rust and Bone) and Noomi Rapace (Prometheus) are attached to join Alive Alone, a drama from first time director Khurram Longi about a former Guantanamo detainee and a woman on the run. [Deadline]

• Jennifer Garner (The Odd Life of Timothy Green) and Michael Caine (The Dark Knight Rises) have signed on to join Al Pacino and Anette Bening in Imagine, about an aging rock star who discovers an old, inspirational letter from John Lennon and decides to live life differently. Crazy, Stupid, Love. co-writer Dan Fogelman will make his directorial debut on the project. [THR]

• Jean Dujardin won an Oscar for his performance as a silent movie star in The Artist, but the French actor is taking a quite different turn for his next project. In the 70s and 80s-set action thriller La French, he’ll play a police magistrate trying to bring down the French Connection. Dujardin is currently filming George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, and can be seen next in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio, which hits theaters November 15. [Variety]

• The O.C.’s Adam Brody is set to join the ensemble cast of Think Like a Man Too, where he’ll play a former frat brother of Kevin Hart’s character. [Deadline]

• Holt McCallany (Lights Out) will join Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Viola Davis (The Help) in Michael Mann’s (Collateral) new terrorism thriller. According to the report, “McCallany will play a street-smart U.S. Marshal charged with the custody of Hemsworth’s character.” The actor recently appeared in Gangster Squad and Bullet to the Head. [Deadline]

• Nicolas Cage may be passing on Hotel 33, after a premature press release confirmed his involvement. [The Wrap]

• Jeremy Allen White, who plays Lip Gallagher on Showtime’s Shameless, is set to join the production of Glimmer, a found-footage time travel pic about some teenagers who go back to the 70s and accidentally change history. Glimmer was written by Carter Blanchard, with a rewrite from Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl creator). [The Wrap]

Follow Lindsey on Twitter: @ldbahr

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