Five Hot Actresses Vie For Leads Opposite Tom Cruise in Horizons, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in this Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Olivia Wilde may find Better Living Through Chemistry... Natalie Portman and Katherine Heigl have something common... Paul Greengrass gets busy... and more ahead.

· Time for another Tom Cruise-centric actress short list! Per Variety, Universal is testing five leading ladies to star opposite Cruise in Horizons (formerly Oblivion), the sci-fi blockbuster from Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski that might remind you of WALL*E. The chosen five: Jessica Chastain, Olivia Wilde, Brit Marling, Noomi Rapace and Olga Kurylenko. Universal had no comment on the list (naturally), but the five will reportedly test with Kosinski over the weekend for the chance to star in one of two roles: the wife Cruise's Jack had on Earth before aliens invaded and killed everyone, and the right-hand woman he teams with during missions back to Earth to repair safety drones that protect the planet from said aliens. [Variety]

· Speaking of Olivia Wilde, the Cowboys & Aliens star will replace the pregnant Jennifer Garner in the indie comedy Better Living Through Chemistry. The film stars Sam Rockwell as a small-town pharmacist who has an affair with a trophy wife (Wilde) and winds up plotting to kill her husband. [Variety]

· Holler at Paul Greengrass! The acclaimed director is attached to direct an adaptation of Robert Harris's thriller Fear Index, "about a scientist who uses a revolutionary system of computer algorithms to trade on the volatility of the world's financial markets. His hedge fund is wildly successful until he is targeted by an intruder who breaks into his home." Tense! In other directorial news, Robert Zemeckis will officially handle Flight with Denzel Washington set to star. [Deadline]

· EW reports that Natalie Portman has turned down an offer to star in Adaline, a film about a woman who stops aging after a mysterious accident. If that sounds familiar, it's because you might remember when Katherine Heigl was attached to the lead role. [EW]

· The headline from THR: "Blade Runner Actor Joins Ryan Reynolds in R.I.P.D." What it actually means: James Hong -- the famed character actor who you know from Big Trouble in Little China, Seinfeld, Wayne's World and, yes, also Blade Runner -- will co-star in R.I.P.D. as "Grandpa Chen," the human avatar that people see when Ryan Reynolds's deceased cop goes out in the field. He joins Marisa Miller who was just set as Jeff Bridges's human avatar. Sorry if you were hoping that Harrison Ford, Sean Young or Rutger Hauer were cast. Also: Schwentke! [THR/Heat Vision]

· First, the years-delayed Margaret gets a release date, and now Fireflies in the Garden does too. The Julia Roberts-led drama was shot in 2007, and will finally hit theaters on Oct. 14 in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The filmmakers themselves are putting Garden one out, so don't expect much pomp and circumstance. Ryan Reynolds, Emily Watson, Willem Dafoe and Carrie-Anne Moss co-star in this curio. [Deadline]