Cloud Atlas Will Shoot in September, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in this Tuesday edition of The Broadsheet: Alexander Skarsgard may head East... Ron Howard finds a leading lady for Rush... Jennifer Garner is pregnant... and more ahead.

· Hooray for Babelsberg? THR reports that Cloud Atlas -- the ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell's generations-spanning novel that The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer are directing -- will begin shooting at the famed German studio in mid-to-late September. With six separate storylines and actors like Tom Hanks and Halle Berry set to play multiple roles, the directors will work with two separate crews and shoot the film parallel to each other as a way to keep time manageable. (Take that, Ron Howard!) Studio Babelsberg -- the oldest large-scale studio in the world -- has been home to productions ranging from Metropolis to Inglourious Basterds, but Atlas producer Stefan Ardnt is excited that some 80 percent of the film may wind up being shot in Germany. "It's always been a dream of mine to shoot at Babelsberg. It shows we can do more here than just small German films or service production for big Hollywood ones." [THR]

· Speaking of Ron Howard and Germany, the director has lined up German actress Alexandra Maria Lara (Control, Downfall) as the female lead in his Formula One racing drama Rush. Lara will star opposite Chris Hemsworth, as British racer James Hunt, with Inglourious Basterds star Daniel Bruhl playing Hunt's Austrian rival, Niki Lauda. Peter Morgan wrote the script. [Variety]

· True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard is in talks to appear opposite Brit Marling in The East. The film -- which was written by Marling, and will reunite her with Sound of My Voice director Zat Batmanglij -- apparently follows a female agent who infiltrates an eco-terrorism organization. [THR/Heat Vision]

· Paramount will re-release Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 246 IMAX theaters for a two-week run from Aug. 26 to Sept. 8. [Deadline]

· Time to close out The Broadsheet with good news and bad news. The bad news first, times two: Nick Ashford -- part of the famed Motown songwriting duo Ashford and Simpson -- died in New York on Monday at the age of 70 after suffering from throat cancer. He's survived by his wife and longtime partner Valerie Simpson and their two daughters. The pair wrote a ton of your favorites, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and the aural perfection that is "You're All I Need to Get By." [NYT]

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, songwriter Jerry Leiber -- who along with his writing parter Mike Stoller wrote such early rock 'n' roll hits as "Hound Dog" -- died at the age of 78. [LAT]

· And, as promised, the good news: Jennifer Garner is pregnant for a third time. The actress has two daughters already with husband Ben Affleck. [Huffington Post]