We’ve got a few casting stories to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Chris Pratt is in talks to star opposite Vince Vaughn in the comedy remake of Starbuck.
• Mos Def has joined Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley in the music-themed drama Can a Song Save Your Life?
• X-Men: First Class star Lucas Till is in talks to lead the werewolf film Wolves.

Hit the jump for more details.

The well-received performance by John Hawkes in Sundance’s audience award-winner, The Surrogate, has helped to land the star a role in Switch, the Jackie Brown prequel. Starring opposite Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), the duo will portray younger versions of Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie. The same characters were respectively played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film, Jackie Brown. From writer/director Dan Schechter (Goodbye Baby), Switch is an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel, “The Switch,” which is scheduled to start production in May. Hit the jump for more.

When we reunite with our favorite serial killer Dexter (Michael C. Hall) for the season six premiere, it’s been a year since our dark passenger helped and hooked up with the troubled Lumen (Julia Stiles) and brought down twisted self-help guru Jordan Chase (Jonny Lee Miller). While the previous seasons have had Dexter attempting to fit in through love and romantic relationships, this year he and his dark passenger are having a crisis of faith, at least when it comes to raising his toddler son Harrison. Really, the idea of romance all but disappears as various relationships from previous season (we won’t say which ones) have all pretty much crumbled, which makes for quite a lot of tension around Miami Metro Police Department. However, despite the high amount of tension that rises rather quickly in the first three episodes of the season, there also seems to be a higher level of humor, other than the usual dark fare, than other seasons. But that’s just the beginning of the strange changes happening in Miami. Hit the jump for the rest of my review of the sixth season of Dexter.

Comic Con 2011: At the Showtime Preview Panel, Michael C. Hall and company talked up the 6^th season of Dexter; William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum and John Wells teased the second season of Shameless; Morena Baccarin and Howard Shore discussed their new show Homeland. For all this, plus new trailers for Dexter and Homeland, hit the jump.

Showtime has released two new images for the upcoming sixth season of Dexter.  The first, featuring Michael C. Hall standing crouched over a crime scene on the Miami beach, could be taken from any season.  (Though perhaps eagle-eyed viewers may spot a hint or two I missed.)  The second is more revealing in its depiction of Hall eying new cast member Mos Def suspiciously.  Or rather, Dexter is eying Def’s character (a reformed criminal) suspiciously, unless these are really insightful behind-the-scenes photos.

Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks are also new to the cast this season, which we expect to premiere in September on the heels of the July 21 Comic-Con panel.  See the images after the jump.

We just recently learned that Colin Hanks would have a major character arc appearing in all 12 episodes on the forthcoming sixth season of Showtime’s serial killer drama series Dexter, and now another name has surfaced for a major role. THR reports rapper turned actor Mos Def (Be Kind Rewind) will also have a multi-episode arc on the hit series. Production will begin in June with Mos Def playing a hardened ex-con who claims to have found religion yet seems to continually find himself surrounded by violence. Apparently Dexter will actually reveal the truth behind who this man really is behind the front. Meanwhile, the report also reveals Hanks’ character will be a man name Travis, the main nemesis of the sixth season and a highly intelligent ancient artifacts expert who is linked to a series of grisly murders in Miami. Sound good?