Jodie Foster Circling The Beaver

· Remember The Beaver, the #1 Black Listed script about a down-and-out guy that finds a beaver puppet in a dumpster that begins talking to him and slowly taking over his life? Steve Carell was supposedly attached to star, but apparently that was a "loose" attachment, and now the leading candidate is ... drumroll ... Jim Carrey. It's all director dependent, however, and one director in particular who's shown interest is Jodie Foster. Hey -- you in the back row. What are you snickering about? [THR]

· No report about The Beaver would be complete without an update on its equally intriguing companion spec, Hot Tub Time Machine. It seems our favorite jacuzzi-wormhole movie now has a cast, and a pretty good one at that, with John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Crispin Glover and Lizzy Caplan (the V-addict psychopath from True Blood) set to star. The movie is about "a group of friends who go back to the ski lodge where they partied as teens and end up transported to 1987 through their hot tub." Glover will play Phil, a "one-armed, accident-prone bellhop at Silver Peaks Lodge." It's all too good to be true. [THR]

· As NBC's "infront" presentation Monday approaches, word has been leaking out about series pickups: High on the list is a Joel McHale sitcom about a guy who enrolls in community college, and NYC-based chick-comedy 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne. On the drama side, Parenthood -- recently sidelined by the tragic sudden death of VP of drama programming Nora O'Brien -- is said to be all but a sure thing. Also looking strong: paramedic drama Trauma, and nursing series Mercy. (That rolled off the tongue nicely.) Two new series from heavyweights, meanwhile -- Legally Mad, from David E. Kelley, and Dick Wolf's Lost and Found -- got lukewarm receptions, though still could get pickups based on pedigree alone. The beloved but in-trouble Chuck is rumored to be getting a third season pickup, and the sort-of-like-it-but-hope-it-gets-better or hate-it Parks and Recreation will be getting a second shot at winning your hearts. Southland is a lock for a pickup. [Variety]

· Sumner Redstone may have pledged to a Beverly Hills hotel conference room that "Paramount is going to make as many dollars this quarter as I am years old," but the numbers tell a different story: Viacom saw a 34% drop in their profits in the last quarter. Save us, Kobayashi Maru. You're our only hope! [Variety]

· Warners has bought the rights to a 13-volume, bestselling Japanese manga series Death Note for big screen adaptation. It's about a boy who finds a magical "death note" that gives him the power to kill anyone by writing their name on a page while picturing them in his mind. (Similar to a technique employed by agents in which they Google Image search competing clients, stare intently at their computer monitors, and repeat the words, "I hope the only work you find is as a Denny's hostess.") [Variety]

· Obama is coming! Obama is coming! The President will hold a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton on May 27, a heroic Hollywood homecoming co-chaired by early Barack spirit squad leaders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Cost: $2,500-per-person for a reception and $30,400-per-couple for a VIP dinner. The extra $400 goes towards the Buy Arlen Specter Some Hipper-Looking Duds Fund. [Variety]

· Barry Levinson is returning to Baltimore for Sixty-Six, about a group of friends coming of age on the eve of the Vietnam War. A diner will be involved, though no guarantees entire sides of menus will be consumed or that Mickey Rourke will make a cameo as a scary glimpse at their Chihuahua-overrun future. [THR]