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Natalie Portman is marking her big return to acting following her "Black Swan" Oscar win with not one but two Terrence Malick flicks. Meanwhile, Naomi Watts has landed the much-coveted role of Princess Diana in a new movie, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep could star in a movie about the making of "Mary Poppins" and John Goodman joins "Trouble with the Curve."

It's February 9, and you're tuning in for today's casting call.

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Tags Caught in Flight, elizabeth olsen, Glenn Close, Intersection, Jaimie Alexander, John Goodman, Knight of Cups, Lawless, meryl streep, naomi watts, natalie portman, Saving Mr. Banks, Terrence Malick, Therese Raquin, tom felton, tom hanks, Trouble with the Curve

The upcoming "Evil Dead" remake may have lost a leading lady with Lily Collins, but today the horror movie picked up her replacement and a male lead. In other casting news, Viola Davis is the latest star to join "Ender's Game," her "The Help" costar Octavia Spencer joins a sci-fi thriller, and Chris Rock wants to romance Melissa McCarthy in his new movie.

It's February 3, and you're tuning in for today's casting call.

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Tags Attachment, Captain Phillips, catherine keener, chris rock, Ender's Game, evil dead, Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, sharon stone, shiloh fernandez, Snow Piercer, tom hanks, Viola Davis

Tom Hanks isn't scared to tackle some of history's biggest and most tragic events. His next film, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," takes place during the aftermath of September 11, and now he has plans to tackle a movie about the Holocaust.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Hanks and his producing partner are planning to bring Erik Larson's non-fiction novel "In the Garden of the Beasts" to the big screen for Universal. It follows an American professor and his daughter who travel to Berlin in Hitler's first year of power, 1933, and try to temper the Fuhrer-to-be's government. Apparently the book offers a good understanding of why it took the world so long to understand the threat posed by Hitler. Hanks could potentially star in the film, as well as produce it.

Check out the rest of today's casting news after the jump!

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Tags Broken City, Common, forest whitaker, gary oldman, In the Garden of the Beasts, jared harris, Kyle Chandler, lincoln, michael chiklis, Pawn, ray liotta, Smiley's People, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, tom hanks

After many rumors and much hoopla, Matt Damon is finally lining up his directorial debut.

Variety has learned that Damon and "The Office" star John Krasinski have co-written a currently untitled script that Damon will now helm. The idea originated between Krasinski and "Away We Go" writer Dave Eggers, and then Damon came on board. The film would follow a salesman who reevaluates his life after moving to a small town, with Damon playing the salesman. The flick is currently set up at Warner Bros, and should start shooting soon on the east coast.

Check out the rest of today's casting news after the jump!

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Tags Carnaval, james franco, john cusack, john krasinski, johnny knoxville, mark romanek, matt damon, tom felton, tom hanks

One of the most exciting bits of TV development news to come along in recent months is the announcement that HBO and Playtone are developing Neil Gaiman's beloved "American Gods" to the small screen via an episodic television series.

When MTV News caught up with Playtone head honcho Tom Hanks recently during the press day for "Larry Crowne," which opened on Friday (July 1), we asked him for an "American Gods" update, and how he and Playtone got involved with the project.

"I don't know anything about 'American Gods,'" he admitted. "I have the book. I just now have it and it's on my summer reading list because people at my company came in foaming at the mouth about 'American Gods' and the possibility of being able to do it. So I said, 'Uuh, okay, let's go! Let's go!' So I'm playing catch-up on 'American Gods,' which is going to be a pleasant job."

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Tags American Gods, Larry Crowne, tom hanks

So sue us, we're about as excited as you can get about Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" adaptation.

Fortunately for us fans, Empire is too. That's why we're pretty thrilled that "The Hobbit" is gracing the August issue of the mag (out June 30) with some brand new looks at Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Ian McKellen re-donning the gray robes as Gandalf, and tons of inside scoop from the set. It should at least tide us over until the flick's Comic-Con panel.

In the news after the jump, "Prometheus" footage will be screened soon, a "Horrible Bosses" red band trailer hits the web and "Fast & Furious 6" gets a new release date.

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Tags darren aronofsky, Fast and the Furious 6, Horrible Bosses, ian mckellan, prometheus, the-hobbit, tom hanks, Toy Story 4, XOXO

by Stefan Doyno

Acting, writing, directing, producing… and now Tom Hanks can officially add dancing to his list of talents. Hanks was on Univision's Spanish-language morning show Despierta America to promote "Larry Crowne," the story of a middle aged man who loses his job and decides to head back to college where he meets and falls for a teacher played by Julia Roberts. During a weather segment, the Spanish-challenged Hanks handled his language difficulties in the best way possible: with a dance routine.

Emma Watson already spoke in "American Talk" once to hilarious results, so how will she fare when she has to do it again in the upcoming "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"?

"It's good. Having been out in Pittsburgh for four weeks — it's OK," the "Harry Potter" actress tells MTV News of how her American accent's developing for the role. "It's good. I'm hopeful about it." Just don't ask her to start switching accents in the middle of a conversation—she's still practicing, folks!

Check out the rest of today's big Hollywood news past the jump, including some "Breaking Dawn" Comic-Con plans and news on the long-gestating "Star Wars" television project.

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Tags American Gods, American Idiot, breaking dawn, Cedar Rapids, Comic-Con, emma watson, Major Matt Mason, star wars, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, tom hanks

FROM MTV MOVIES: The first time Tom Hanks stepped behind the camera on a big-screen production, he captured a story set in the early 1960s, a period he had lived through as a preteen. But the particulars of "That Thing You Do!" — a rock band that rides a hit song to fame but can't follow through on their initial promise — couldn't have been further from Hanks' California childhood.

His second directorial effort, however, was inspired by events from his past, even if it does not seem so at first glance. In "Larry Crowne" — the upcoming comedy he also co-wrote and in which he stars with Julia Roberts — Hanks plays the title character, a guy fired from his job at a big-box retail store and forced to go back to college, where he meets a professor named Mercy Tainot (played by Roberts). But as Hanks told MTV News as part of our Summer Movie Preview week, he actually relates to his character's plight.

"My first years in college were much like Larry's," he told us. "I was in junior college because it was my only option — if I didn't enroll right after high school I would have had no path to any future. Two years in junior college became the jumping-off point for everything that came later and I think this was the same for others — not just kids out of high school, but guys back from Vietnam, wives going back to school after their kids were older, and folks who were looking to change their lives for the better."

Read the full story at MTV Movies!

Tags Larry Crowne, Summer Movie Preview, tom hanks

The Home Box Office network has already won our heart and undying love for bringing one of our favorite book series to television, "Game of Thrones," but today news broke that HBO is in early development stages to bring yet another excellent book, Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," to the small screen.

According to Deadline, the project was brought to HBO by Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, with renowned cinematographer Robert Richardson attached to co-write the pilot with Gaiman.

We almost feel that there's no further reason to elaborate on why this is awesome news, but just in case, MTV Staff Writer Kara Warner and Movies Blog Editor Josh Wigler are here to school you on why an HBO adaptation of "American Gods" could be a truly divine television experience.

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Tags American Gods, neil gaiman, Robert Richardson, tom hanks