Casting: Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Go To 'Africa,' Matthew McConaughey Is 'Born To Run,' & More

While "Unbroken" failed to take off as an awards season machine, Angelina Jolie remains undefeated. She’s already got the drama, "By The Sea," with her husband Brad Pitt, in the can, and now it looks like they’ll be reteaming. The latter has joined Jolie’s previously announced project, "Africa." Penned by Eric Roth ("Ali," "Munich," "The Good Shepherd"), the film is a biopic about Kenyan Richard Leakey, who came from a line of archaeologists, but turned his attentions to paleontology and most famously to anti-poaching efforts. Roger Deakins will lens the Jolie-directed movie and production aims to start this summer. [The Wrap]

Matthew McConaughey is "Born To Run." The actor will star in an adaptation of Christopher McDougall‘s book, scripted by Matthew Michael Carnahan, about "how an award-winning journalist and often-injured runner headed for Mexico’s isolated, deadly Copper Canyons to find out how the blissful Tarahumara Indians honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. He tags along to discover their secrets and takes readers from Harvard science labs to sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit. This led to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pitted America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe." No word yet on who will direct. [Deadline]

Dave Franco and Emma Roberts have got some "Nerve." The pair will star in a thriller about "a high school senior who finds herself immersed in an online game of truth of dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of ‘watchers.’ " "Catfish" duo Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman will direct. [Variety]

Hot off "The Theory Of Everything," director James Marsh is teaming up with Colin Firth for another true life tale. This time the drama centers on "fated amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst" and his "attempt to win the first round of the Golden Globe Yacht Race in 1968." [Variety]

Kevin Spacey has joined Barry Sonnenfeld‘s bonkers sounding "Nine Lives." The story follows "a workaholic businessman who suffers a terrible accident that leaves him trapped in the body of the family cat." Okay, we’re curious. [The Wrap]

Lastly, Penelope Cruz and Diane Kruger will star in Isabel Coixet‘s next film, "This Man, This Woman." Penned by Oscar winner Frederic Raphael ("Eyes Wide Shut"), the story follows an estranged man, Matt Heller, and a woman, Martha Parks (Cruz), who encounter each other by chance on a plane, and relive memories of their turbulent romantic relationship. Kruger will play Kirsty Sachs, a talk show host who has an affair with Heller and changes the course of his whirlwind relationship with Parks.