Natalie Portman Loads Gun, Penn State Doc En Route: Biz Break

Also in this afternoon's edition of Biz Break: Woody Allen's next adds another actor to its growing ensemble, Kathryn Bigelow picks up another cast member of her own for Zero Dark Thirty, and more...

Penn State Doc Gets Green Light From A&E Indie Films
Amir Bar-Lev and John Battsek, the director and producer who previously collaborated on The Tillman Story and My Kid Could Paint That, will re-team for the just-announced A&E Indie Films project Happy Valley. The documentary will look back at the trials and tribulations of the titular community during the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked its beloved Penn State football program. Production begins this month.

Around the 'net...

Natalie Portman/Lynne Ramsay Western Stirs Buzz at Cannes
A bidding war is underway for Jane Got a Gun, screenwriter Brian Duffield's tale of a woman who turns to an ex-lover for protection when her outlaw husband returns home nearly dead from gunshots. Portman would play the lead with director Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) behind the camera. THR reports.

Cannes Auteurs Take a Shine to Americana
In related news, while studios may embrace the world downplaying American culture in order to win global box-office cash, auteurs outside the studio system are embracing the United States' cultural flavor in such Cannes offerings as Lawless, Mud and Beasts of the Southern Wild. LAT's 24 Frames reports.

Mark Duplass Boards Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty
The filmmaker (Jeff, Who Lives at Home) and actor (Your Sister's Sister) will have a "key supporting role" in the Oscar-winning filmmaker's drama about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Deadline reports.

Bobby Cannavale Added to Woody Allen Project
He'll star along with Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper and Alec Baldwin in the comedy, Deadline reports.