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Exclusive: Patty Jenkins, whose last film about a female killer won an Oscar for Charlize Theron in Monster, will helm Sweetheart, an action film about a young hit woman. This one is a lot more light-hearted. Scripted by Jack Stanley (who’s currently writing the Fox sequel Chronicle 2), Sweetheart revolves around a heroine trying to escape the murder business, but finds herself right back in the mix after a high school reunion and a one night stand. The script made the 2013 Black List and put Stanley on the map as a writer. Michael Costigan and Jewerl Ross are producing. It’s refreshing to see a female-driven film helmed by a woman. Jenkins has begun meeting actresses to play the lead role, and the producers will then shop the package for financing. Jenkins, who directed the pilot for the AMC series The Killing and at one point had been signed...

Sandrine Holt has locked a deal to join Paramount and Skydance’s reboot Terminator: Genesis, which stars Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor, Jason Clarke as her son John Connor, Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese, and Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his signature cyborg. The UK-born Holt would play Detective Cheung, who arrests Kyle and Sarah when they arrive in 2017. The time-travel saga is directed by Alan Taylor has a July 1, 2015 release set. Holt also just closed a deal to star opposite Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou in Air, the Automatik Entertainment pic, playing Abby, the wife of Cartwright (Hounsou). Holt played Gillian Cole, the work rival of Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood, in the first two seasons of Netflix’s House Of Cards. She also was cast in the ABC pilot Exposed, and was last on CBS’ Hostages. She is repped by Innovative and D2 Management.

Ben Barnes (The Chronicles Of Narnia franchise) has been tapped as a male lead opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead in ABC‘s drama pilot Exposed, from writer Charles Randolph, Peter Traugott’s Tbd Entertainment, Sweden-based Yellow Bird Entertainment and Universal TV. Based on the best-selling Swedish novels by Liza Marklund, Exposed centers on Anna (Winstead), an investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth, including making questionable alliances. Barnes, repped by Wme and Luber Roklin, will play Stoya, a mysterious man who develops an intimate relationship with Anna. He claims to be a pilot but is in fact an Nsa whistleblower who is being hunted by the U.S. government because he knows too much. Daniel Henney (X Men Origins: Wolverine) has been cast opposite Bojana Novakovic in ABC’s drama pilot Agatha, from ABC Studios and Mark Gordon Co. It centers on former convict-turned-big-city criminologist Agatha (Novakovic...

Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been spoken for. One of the most hotly pursued actresses this pilot season has been tapped as the lead of ABC‘s drama pilot Exposed, from writer Charles Randolph, Peter Traugott’s Tbd Entertainment, Sweden-based Yellow Bird Entertainment and Universal TV. Based on the best-selling Swedish novels by Liza Marklund, Exposed centers on Anna (Winstead), an investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth, including making questionable alliances. Winstead turned down some half-dozen pilot offers this season before settling on Exposed. The actress, repped by Wme and Anonymous Content, has been straddling the indie and mainstream feature worlds with roles in indies like the 2012 Smashed, which landed her an Indie Spirit nomination, and in such big-budget movies as A Good Day To Die Hard and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Related: 2014 ABC Pilots...

Spencer Grammer (Ironside) has been cast in Saint Francis, Chris Moynihan’s multi-camera comedy pilot for ABC, from ABC Studios and Tagline. It centers on Francis Quinlan (Michael Imperioli), a no-nonsense, blue-collar Long Island cop and family man who butts heads with the modern, liberal world when his 29-year-old sister Heather (Grammer) gets pregnant out of wedlock. Heather is a bit of a born rebel who feels dominated by her older brother and is determined to forge her own path in life. Gremmer is with UTA and Untitled. Related: 2014 ABC Pilots Fran Kranz has been cast in ABC’s drama pilot Exposed, from writer Charles Randolph, Tbd Entertainment, and Uni TV. It centers on Anna, an investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth including making questionable alliances. Kranz, repped by UTA, Berwick & Kovacik and attorney Harris Hartman, plays Jeremy, Anna’s hipster younger brother, a tech...

Brian F. O’Byrne (Prime Suspect, FlashForward) has nabbed a lead role in ABC’s drama pilot Exposed, from writer Charles Randolph, Peter Traugott’s Tbd Entertainment, and Universal TV. It centers on Anna, an investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth including making questionable alliances. O’Byrne, repped by Gersh and Lisa Richards Agency, will play Quigg, a very powerful, mysterious man who works for the Pentagon. Related: 2014 ABC Pilots British actress Jessica Knappett (The Inbetweeners Movie) and Iris Bahr (The Last Exorcism) are set as female leads opposite David Schwimmer in ABC comedy pilot Irreversible, from Peter Tolan and Sony Pictures TV. Schwimmer also serves as a producer on the project, based on the Israeli series Bilti Hafich. It centers on Andy (Schwimmer) and Sarah, a somewhat eccentric, self-absorbed couple, and their trials and tribulations — most of which they bring upon themselves. Knappett, repped...