Leonardo DiCaprio recently said that he was planning to take a “long, long break” from acting to pursue environmental activism, but a break isn’t retirement, and studios are going to keep trying to get him in their movies.  According to Deadline, Warner Bros. recently acquired Michael Armour‘s upcoming novel The Road Home as a potential starring vehicle for DiCaprio.  Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) has come on board to write, direct, and produce with DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran‘s Appian Way production company.  The company and Cooper recently teamed up for the writer-director’s upcoming revenge thriller, Out of the Furnace.  When the spec script was first acquired, DiCaprio intended to lead the flick with Ridley Scott attached to direct.  The screenplay was later rewritten by Cooper, and now Christian Bale will star alongside Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana.

Hit the jump for a synopsis of Armour’s The Road Home.  DiCaprio will next be seen in Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby and Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street.  Out of the Furnace opens later this year.

We’ve got a couple of director-related news stories to share this afternoon.  First up, Variety reports that Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, Alpha Dog) has settled on 20th Century Fox’s The Other Woman as his next project.  The director intended to next helm the gritty actioner Cali, but star Kristen Stewart abruptly dropped out following Huntsman-gate her personal drama late last summer.  The Other Woman centers on a woman (surprise!) who, “after realizing she is not her boyfriend’s primary lover, teams up with the man’s wife to plot a mutual revenge.”

Cameron Diaz was previously rumored to star with Kristen Wiig in the mix for the other lead role, but those rumors were apparently premature as neither actress is attached at this time.  The studio wants to move quickly on this one, and they hope to have the leads locked up within the next week.  Melissa Stack is writing the screenplay.  Hit the jump for news concerning a director change on The Man in the Rockefeller Suit.

After reporting that director Rupert Wyatt was exiting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox is now looking for a replacement.  As of this writing, it looks like Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) is leading the pack.  Rounding out the short list of directors is J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) and Jeff Nichols (Mud).  Longer shots being reported are Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro (doubtful), Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible) and Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).  Hit the jump to get this sorted out.

Kristen Stewart has landed the lead in director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) adaptation of the William Styron novel Lie Down in Darkness.  The story takes place in 1950s Virginia and centers on Peyton Loftis, a young girl whose “intense physical beauty makes her the object of her frigid mother’s jealous hatred and the target of her father’s incestuous, alcoholic lust.”  The role was covteted by both Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence, but as the latter is tied down to filming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and the X-Men: First Class sequel for the forseeable future, Vulture reports that Stewart won the role.  Hit the jump for more.

You’re driving down the street, and it’s suddenly blocked off.  You notice these weird yellow signs with nonsensical letters or numbers.  There’s unusual glow lighting up a neighborhood you can’t usually see from your house.  What you might have here is a film company shooting in your town.  It happens a lot, and you never know where they might pop up…until now.

The following is a semi-comprehensive list of films currently shooting, what they’re shooting, and where they’re shooting.  We’ll be telling you where you might get to see the very famous, the kinda famous and (if all goes well) the soon-to-be famous. While we can’t list every single movie, television show, or student film in production, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what the heck is going on where all those people are buzzing about.  Want to know where in the world are Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Woody Harrelson, and Leonardo DiCaprio? Hit the jump for more.

The cast for Out of the Furnace just keeps getting better and better.  Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard and Zoe Saldana are all set to star in Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper’s crime drama, and now Variety reports that Woody Harrelson is in talks for the villain role.  The film centers on Russell Baze (Bale), who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother, Rodney Baze Jr. (Affleck) has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer.

Billy Bob Thornton had previously been circling the villain role, but I’m beyond thrilled to see Harrelson play the baddie.  He earned raves for his morally blurred turn in last year’s Rampart, and it should be fun to see him go toe-to-toe with Bale.  Production on the film begins later this month in Pennsylvania.  Harrelson recently wrapped the heist pic Now You See Me and will be seen later this year alongside Colin Farrell in Seven Psychopaths.

Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, and Sam Shepard are set to star in Scott Cooper‘s Out of the Furnace. The film centers on Russell Baze (Bale), who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother, Rodney Baze Jr. (Affleck) has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer.  Saldana will play Russell’s love interest, Lena Warren.  We had previously reported on Bale, Affleck, and Saldana‘s connection to the project, but Shepard’s name is new.  He’ll be playing Russell and Rodney’s uncle, Red.  The press release makes no mention of Billy Bob Thornton and Forest Whitaker, who reportedly were circling the villain and sleazy bookie roles, respectively.  If they sign on, they’ll be welcome additions to an already strong cast.  Production begins later this month in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Hit the jump to check out the press release, which contains the official synopsis.

Two more fantastic actors may be joining the revenge drama Out of the Furnace. I was already high on the project given that it serves as the follow-up to writer-director Scott Cooper’s swell drama Crazy Heart, then Christian Bale signed on to play the lead. Bale plays a man who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer. Casey Affleck is onboard as Bale’s brother, Zoe Saldana is set as Bale’s ex-wife, and we previously heard that Viggo Mortensen was circling the villain role.

Buried in a different story (thanks to The Playlist for the find), Deadline now notes that Billy Bob Thornton is eyeing the villain role instead of Mortensen, and Forest Whitaker is circling the role of a sleazy bookie. Both Mortensen and Thornton are terrific, but the prospect of Thornton tackling a gritty villain opposite Bale is incredibly enticing. No deals have been made with Thornton or Whitaker, but Cooper is assembling an incredible cast for what’s shaping up to be one hell of a movie. Production begins this spring.

Just over a week ago, we learned that Christian Bale was looking to make writer/director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) revenge drama Out of the Furnace his next project. Now Variety reports that Zoe Saldana (Star Trek) is in talks to join the production. The story centers on a man who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer. Robert Duvall is expected to play Bale’s uncle, and Viggo Mortensen is circling the villain role.

Should she sign on, Saldana would play Bale’s ex-wife, a waitress who’s now married to the town sheriff. A number of actors are circling the role of Bale’s brother, including Casey Affleck, Taylor Kitsch, Garrett Hedlund, and Channing Tatum. I loved Cooper’s Crazy Heart, and it looks like he’s assembling a stellar cast for his long-awaited follow-up which is said to be “a gritty throwback to 1970s movies.” No deals have been made and the studio still hasn’t greenlit the project quite yet, but they’re looking to start filming this spring as Bale is shooting two Terrence Malick films back-to-back starting this summer. Saldana is currently filming the Star Trek sequel, and is expected to return for James Cameron’s Avatar 2 and 3 whenever he gets around to actually filming them. [Update: Variety has updated their story to say that Casey Affleck is now the certified frontrunner to play Bale's brother.]

After hanging up the Batman cowl for the last time, Christian Bale is now looking towards the future. Heat Vision reports that Bale is now in negotiations to star in writer-director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) revenge drama Out of the Furnace. Previously titled The Low Dweller, the film centers on a man who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer. We previously reported that Bale was considering the pic as a post-Batman project last August, but it appears he’s now settled on starring.

I was a huge fan of Cooper’s Crazy Heart so I’m eager to see his follow-up. The film was sought after by directors like Rupert Sanders and Ridley Scott before Cooper signed on, and Bale actually flirted with the project back when Sanders was attached. The intent is for Robert Duvall to star alongside Bale, but no deals have been made. Cooper wrote the script and Bale plans to shoot Out of the Furnace this Spring before moving on to The Dark Knight Rises press commitments and two Terrence Malick projects. He’ll shoot Malick’s Knight of Cups this summer, followed by Lawless this fall. [Update: Variety reports that Cooper is assembling a top-notch supporting cast, with Viggo Mortensen wanted for the villain role and Casey Affleck, Taylor Kitsch, Garrett Hedlund, and Channing Tatum circling the role of Bale's brother]

Crazy Heart writer-director Scott Cooper continues to attach himself to new projects.  Last week he replaced Noah Baumbach to direct The Emperor’s Children, and he’s also attached to Carancho, The Pale Blue Eye, and Out of the Furnace.  Deadline reports that he’s now set to direct and possibly write an adaptation of Mark Seal’s non-fiction book The Man in the Rockefeller Suit.  The story is “about a German-born conman Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter who passed himself off as a member of the Rockefeller clan and got away with it for decades.”

This is great material for a movie and hopefully Cooper can make it work.  Crazy Heart is still his only directing credit and that movie will be remembered mainly for Jeff Bridges‘ performance.  The casting of The Emperor’s Children will determine whether or not Cooper pens the script for Rockefeller Suit. Hit the jump for more details on Gerhartsreiter’s tale and the official synopsis for the book.

Crazy Heart writer-director Scott Cooper has replaced Noah Baumbach (Greenberg) for the adaptation of Claire Messud’s novel The Emperor’s Children.  Twitch reports that the switch is likely due to Baumbach’s busy schedule.  He’s currently in production on a documentary, and he’s already set to direct his script While We’re Young (starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) next year.

Since last November, Cooper has becomes attached to a remake of Carancho, a project called The Pale Blue Eye, and the dark drama Out of the Furnace, but we don’t know if he’s still on board for these films, although Twitch says he’s still on for Furnace.  It’s unknown if Cooper will still use Baumbach’s script for Emperor’s Children.  The film is being eyed for a spring 2012 start date.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.

Scott Cooper, whose feature film debut was 2009’s Crazy Heart, has been tapped to rewrite and direct the film The Low Dweller for Relativity Media. The script was written on spec in 2008 by Brad Ingelsby and sparked an intense battle for the rights to the film. In the initial deal, Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to produce and star in the film, with Ridley Scott directing. Deadline reports that DiCaprio and Scott will now simply be producing the film.

The Low Dweller is described as a dark drama set in 1986. The story focuses on Slim, “a man released after serving years in prison for murder who wants only to follow through on his promise to marry his long-suffering girlfriend. But when he discovers his brother has been murdered after getting involved in a gambling racket, his goals change and he avenges the murder.” Hit the jump for an update on the other projects that Cooper is currently attached to.

[Update: We've been sent the press release for the film and apparently, though based on the script The Low Dweller, the title of the film is Out of the Furnace. The full press release is included after the jump]

Universal Pictures has hired Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You) to adapt the Laura Hillenbrand bestseller Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.  Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is attached to direct, and last we checked, Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) was in talks to write the script.  Deadline’s report doesn’t mention how it went down, but Lawrence and LaGravenese have established a prior working relationship: they teamed for the adaptation of Water for Elephants, which hits theaters April 22.

Unbroken tells the story of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian and WWII bombadier whose plane crashed at sea in 1943.  Zamperini and two crewmates floated adrift for 47 days and 2000 miles — he was caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a POW camp where he was specifically targeted by a sadistic overseer.  Read the full book synopsis after the break:

Director Scott Cooper broke out in a big way with 2009’s Crazy Heart, which won Jeff Bridges his first Academy Award. It looks like the director’s next film will be a project called The Pale Blue Eye, which Cooper will write and direct for Fox 2000.  The Wrap’s report on the matter gives no other plot details, but there exists a novel called The Pale Blue Eye that is a period drama/thriller about Edgar Allan Poe’s brief time as a cadet at West Point. No word if Cooper will be adapting this novel, or if his project is an original idea that simply has the same title.

Cooper is currently adapting Laura Hillenbrand’s WWII non-fiction novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption for director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend). Being a big fan of Crazy Heart myself, I can’t wait to see how the director’s sophomore effort turns out.