Shia LaBeouf has spent the last few years starring in numbered movies: Indiana Jones 4, Wall Street 2, Transformers 1-3.  Now that he’s one of the most powerful young actors in Hollywood, LaBeouf looks to be branching out into less sequel-heavy fare.  He has the period bootlegging drama The Wettest County in the World in the can, and is currently filming the political thriller The Company You Keep with director/star Robert Redford.  Though LaBeouf has suggested he’s ready to dive back in for Indy 5, the latest project he signed on to is unique enough to counteract any cinematic karma.  Variety reports LaBeouf is attached to star in a love story going by the working title A Giant.  Written and directed by Gil Kenan (City of Ember), the film centers on a girl who moves back home to reconnect with her brother and forget a series of bad relationships: “Instead she forms a relationship with a 20-foot tall man-child who lives next door, to be played by LaBeouf.”

A Giant is the first project that David Linde (Biutiful) and Tory Mertzger will shepherd under their new production company Lava Bear Films.  No distributor is on board yet, but Universal is in pole position due to Linde’s relationship with the studio.  More after the jump.

Guillermo del Toro seems to be attached to three billion projects, and more keep revealing themselves every few weeks. This time around, he is helping a small two-shot short film by Andres Muschietti expand into a full-length feature. In addition to del Toro’s involvement, we’re also hearing that Jessica Chastain, who last appeared in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, is attached to play the lead character in the pic. Check out the incredibly tense short film after the jump along with more news regarding the full-length adaptation.