· You can't really blame Columbia for wanting to go back to the blog-based biopic realm that so successfully spawned Julie & Julia, so get ready for The Pioneer Woman. Reese Witherspoon is at the top of the list to star as a city girl whose road-trip detour to Oklahoma wound up getting her involved with a cowboy and starting over in the country. There's even an ancillary cookbook. Derivative? Of course! But that probably only means you should be surprised it didn't happen sooner. [Deadline]
Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher set up a romantic comedy of their own, The Smurfs get another human counterpart, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· Ivan Reitman will direct Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher in a romantic comedy with the working title Friends With Benefits, reportedly about how easily men and women fall into bed but how difficult it is to make an emotional connection. As Reitman told Variety: "It's an issue ripe for discussion." All right, let's discuss: Do we need another movie about gorgeous people who can't fall in love until, suddenly, they do? OK, fine. It opens Jan. 7, 2011. [Variety]
· Glee co-star Jayma Mays will appear in The Smurfs, appearing opposite Neil Patrick Harris as his pregnant wife. And face it: A Rosemary's Baby-esque turn is really just what this story needed. [THR]
· Summit Entertainment bought a cop-drama script called Puzzle Palace. [Deadline
· Akiva Goldsman will make his directorial debut with Man and Wife, about a husband who's secretly a hit man and the fallout that ensues as his wife finds out. Hey look, there's already a trailer. [LAT]