A trio of very interesting casting announcements have surfaced.  Briefly:

• Paul Rudd has set his follow-up to Marvel’s Ant-Man as the inspirational drama adaptation The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.
• Reese Witherspoon is reteaming with her Election director Alexander Payne for the social satire Downsizing.
• One of 2014’s breakout actresses, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, is in line to star opposite Matthew McConaughey in the period drama Free State of Jones.

Much more on these castings after the jump.

Firstly, fresh off yesterday’s Ant-Man trailer premiere, Paul Rudd is making it known that he hasn’t forsaken the independent world.  Variety reports that the actor will topline an adaptation of the Jonathan Evison novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.  The story revolves around the friendship between Rudd’s character and a young adult stricken with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  The Late Show with David Letterman executive producer Rob Burnett wrote the script and will direct, and Letterman’s Worldwide Pants is producing in association with Levantine Films.  Filming is set to get underway January 22nd in Atlanta.

Additionally, an Election reunion is in the works.  Deadline reports that Reese Witherspoon will star opposite Matt Damon in director Alexander Payne’s next film Downsizing.  The social satire tells the story of a guy who realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself.  Payne has been developing the project for years and Witherspoon was previously connected with it a while ago, but 20th Century Fox is now moving forward with the picture in earnest.  Production will begin after Damon completes filming the next Bourne installment with Paul Greengrass, which probably won’t get underway until this summer as Damon is currently shooting Ridley Scott’s sci-fi picture The Martian.

Finally, The Wrap reports that Belle and Beyond the Lights breakout Gugu Mbatha-Raw has been set as the female lead in The Hunger Games director Gary Ross’ next film, Free State of Jones.  McConaughey is toplining the true story of a man who put together an armed rebellion against the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Mbatha-Raw will play a slave whose relationship with McConaughey’s character plays a central role in his life—the two later entered into one of the first interracial common law marriages in the country.  The actress is currently filming Sony’s Untitled NFL Concussion Drama with Will Smith, but it looks like Free State of Jones will be her next film.