Matt Damon is in early negotiations to star in Cameron Crowe's upcoming film, We Bought a Zoo, which is based on Benjamin Mee's memoir of the same name.  Per Variety, the story "revolves around a widowed father who buys a dilapidated zoo in hopes of making a fresh start. He and his children, along with a small but loyal staff, work to get the zoo reopened."  Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) penned the script which Crowe is currently polishing.  It will be the director's first feature since 2005's Elizabethtown.

20th Century Fox has set We Built a Zoo to open on December 23, 2011.  Damon will be seen later this year alongside Emily Blunt in the thriller The Adjustment Bureau, co-starring with Bryce Dallas Howard in Clint Eastwood's Hereafter, and with Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin in the Coen Brothers' True Grit.  He's also signed on to co-star in Steven Soderbergh's Contagion and play Robert F. Kennedy in a biopic about the slain political leader.  I'm happy the guy is starring in so many flicks since I think he's one of the best actors out there.