Dana Stevens is set to write a thriller under the working title The Au Pair for Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures.  Stevens previously teamed with Raimi in 1999 to write For the Love of the Game, which Raimi directed.  Stevens’ Au Pair script is based on the 2003 R.L. Stine novel The Sitter, but as you may recall, that title has already been locked up (cinematically speaking) by Jonah Hill and David Gordon Green.  This is the second film based on the Stine oeuvre announced in recent weeks, following the unveiling Columbia’s Goosebumps adaptation.

Stevens’ screenplay revolves around a young woman who lands a summer job as a nanny at a Hamptons beach house: “This dream job takes a frightening turn when she uncovers a dark secret that haunts her and the kids she’s sworn to protect.”  Hit the jump for the official announcement.

Filming on David Gordon Green’s The Sitter is set to begin on Monday in New York, so it’s about time they firm up the cast.  Jonah Hill (Get Him to the Greek) has long been linked to the title role as “a suspended college student in for a crazy night when he is forced to babysit the kids who live next door to his single mother.”  More recently, Ari Graynor (Whip It!) was cast as the female lead.  But we’ve yet to hear what youngsters would form the troublesome trio of kids in need of supervision.

THR reports that Landry Bender has signed on to star as the youngest (and presumably most adorable) child.  This is her first film role, though she has been active on the local theater scene in Arizona, a proliferative breeding ground for new Hollywood talent.  Ms. Bender is active on Youtube, so hit the jump if you’re in the mood for an audition reel to make you go, “Aww.”

As we reported earlier today, the fourth Mission: Impossible will be a reboot of sorts for the series.  While the film won’t be team-based, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for a young female operative.  Deadline reports that actresses Lauren German (Happy Town), Paula Patton (Precious), and Kristin Kreuk (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) have all tested for the part.  Tom Cruise will star alongside Jeremy Renner.  Ving Rhames is set to return and Simon Pegg is in talks to reprise his role as Benji Dunn.  Paramount also reportedly met with Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), but it’s unknown whether it was for the role of the female operative or a different part.  The new Mission: Impossible film comes out December 16, 2011.

Hit the jump for casting news regarding John Cusack in The Raven and Ari Graynor in The Sitter.

Yesterday I got to go to the Greek Theater in Hollywood as Universal was holding the press day for Get Him to the Greek at the famous theater.  In the coming days I’ll have full interviews with Jonah Hill, Russell Brand and writer-director Nicholas Stoller, but for now, I wanted to post what Jonah Hill said about what he’s doing next and what happened to some of his other projects.

When I did the set visit for Get Him to the Greek last June, Hill mentioned one of his next projects was going to be The Adventure’s Handbook with Jason Segel and Jason Schwartzman.  Since the project never materialized, I asked what happened.  Hill explained that while they got greenlit, they had scheduling conflicts due to Segel and Schwartzman’s TV shows.  He then said since he’s booked for Moneyball and The Sitter, he wasn’t sure when the project might get made.

Hill also talked about 21 Jump Street, Moneyball, The Sitter (for director David Gordon Green) and what kind of project he might want to direct.  Hit the jump for more:

Jonah Hill is set to pair up with director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) and producer Michael De Luca  for the comedy The Sitter.  THR is reporting the movie will be following a college student who’s been suspended for the semester and as a result is living at home with his mother.  He gets talked into babysitting the neighbor’s two boys and 8 year old girls, and undoubtedly shenanigans ensue.  The film sounds like a modern Adventures in Babysitting.

We reported last year that Jonathan Levine was going to follow up his debut film, The Wackness, with The Sitter, but it would appear Levine has dropped out of the project to make the dramedy I’m With Cancer, staring Seth Rogen and James McAvoy.

While it’s hard to get excited with that synopsis, the rumor is the film will be rated R, and if that’s the case, I’m on board.  The Sitter has a planned fall start date.