· While the awards machine waits to see whether or not Morgan Freeman is worth processing as Nelson Mandela in Invictus, a South African production company has enlisted his fellow Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson to play the president's controversial ex-wife Winnie. Adventurously named Winnie, the film will reportedly cover all of the former first lady's ups (taking up Mandela's cause when he spent 27 years in prison) and downs (fraud conviction, relationship with a bodyguard who murdered a teenage informant). That said, Hudson lauded her character as "complex," which generally translates from actor-speak as "s/he's kind of a jerk." [Variety]
Lee Daniels looks to the South for his next project, Justin Theroux gets cosmic, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· Precious director Lee Daniels is contemplating Selma as his next film, a retelling of the Alabama town's landmark 1965 civil-rights march. Slumdog Millionaire alumnus Christian Colson would handle producing duties. [Variety]
· Justin Theroux is sticking to screenwriting for now, picking up the rewrite for Fox's romantic comedy Space Invader. The project has Will Arnett attached to play a man who travels to space to determine whether his astronaut wife is cheating on him with one of her colleagues. This has potential, but let's face it: Unless it involves adult diapers and a mug shot, it's not really an astronaut love story. [THR]
· Newmarket Films has acquired director Alejandro Amenabar's ancient-Egypt drama Agora, starring Rachel Weisz, for distribution in America. It's made $30 million to date in Amenabar's native Spain; if it does a 10th of that here, I'll blog one full day in a toga. [Variety]
· Eric Dane signed on as Christina Aguilera's businessman suitor in the musical drama Burlesque, now shooting in L.A. [THR]