Maggie Gyllenhaal Cast in White House Down, MPAA Tries One More Time: Biz Break

Also in Thursday afternoon's news round up, Peter Bogdanovich will direct John Ledger, Locarno Film Festival will fete Johnnie To and Harvey Weinstein and Donald Sutherland take honors at a Paris festival.

Tom Sizemore Set to Star in John Ledger
Peter Bogdanovich (Paper Moon will direct Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan) in the titular role. The story revolves around "one man's descent into sex addiction and how it affects his family and friends.  John Ledger is a 45-year-old, Southern Californian car salesman, who chases the demon of sex addiction while trying to maintain a normal life with wife, Mary and their teenage son, Brian.“

Johnnie To to Receive Locarno Fete
Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To (Breaking News will receive the "Pardo all carriera" award "for his exceptional contribution to cinema as a director and producer" at the Locarno Film Festival, taking place in the Swiss lakeside town August 1 - 11. The festival will also screen the European premiere of his latest production, Motorway directed by Soi Cheang in addition to a retrospective of a number of his past films.

Around the 'net...

Maggie Gyllenhaal Boards White House Down
Gyllenhaal will play the female lead in the thriller directed by Roland Emmerich. In the film Channing Tatum plays a secret service agent trying to stop a takeover of the presidential mansion. Jamie Foxx will play the U.S. president, Deadline reports.

Harvey Weinstein, Donald Sutherland and Michael Madsen Join 1st Champs Elysees Film Festival
Weinstein will receive a tribute at the Paris event, while Sutherland will be feted with a French award and a screening of Klute. The event is part of a strategy to "create a bridge between the independent American and French film industries," SydneysBuzz reports from the event.

MPAA Chief Chris Dodd Seeks Silicon Valley Piracy Support - Again
The former senator is calling on Hollywood and Silicon Valley to work together on piracy after the latter helped kill anti-piracy legislation last year. Dodd wrote in a Huffington Post blog, ""It's discouraging to hear Google executives say they 'have done as much as they possibly can' when in fact the theft of American products around the world is rampant - and often facilitated by their search engine," Variety reports.