Hollywood Ink: Uma Thurman to Nurse a Robert Pattinson Afterglow in Bel Ami

· The planned adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's short story Bel Ami has picked up Uma Thurman, who will star opposite Robert Pattinson's social-climbing journalist cad. Thurman replaces the previously rumored Nicole Kidman as a well-connected Parisian socialite who eventually marries Pattinson's character. The film starts shooting next February in France, which, depending on the specific timing, may provide Thurman just the excuse she needs to skip out on hundreds of humiliating lipstick-and-snakes questions during the Percy Jackson press tour. [THR]

Sam Worthington ends crime, Mike White crafts dueling Santas, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.

· Sam Worthington is attached to lead The Last Days of American Crime, about a top-secret government effort to broadcast a signal that would prevent citizens from knowingly breaking the law. A device that would prevent Hollywood from casting Sam Worthington in virtually everything can't be far behind. [Variety]

· Mike White will write the comedy Santa Wars for Paramount and Scott Rudin, focusing on the true story of rival factions in a labor union of professional Santa Clauses. (Not to be confused with the other Santa masterwork shopped around earlier this month at the American Film Market.) [Variety]

· Warner Bros. has optioned the Iraqi canine-rescue tearjerker Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle for the screen. [THR]

· Brett Ratner has been handpicked to re-edit the Bollywood film Kites for its international release. If he's smart, he'll outsource it to Albert Maysles. [THR]