Check out the latest casting news below:

• Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers) is set to lead the new action flick from writer/director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) titled Lucy.  Besson once again features a female ass-kicker in the lead and puts a new spin on drug mule stories with this new script.
• Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) and Rene Russo (Ransom) will star in writer/director Dan Gillroy's indie, Nightcrawler.  The story centers on a young freelance journalist who explores L.A. by night while working the crime beat.

Hit the jump for more.

Heat Vision reports

that Johansson is in final negotiations to lead Besson's Lucy.  The title character "is a woman who is forced to become a drug mule. But the drug instead goes into her system, transforming her into an ass-kicking machine. She can absorb knowledge instantaneously, is able to move objects with her mind and can't feel pain and other discomforts."  Johansson certainly has ass-kicking training down after her stints as Black Widow in both The Avengers and the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  She is currently filming the Cap sequel and would move onto Lucy after wrapping.

Variety reports that Gyllenhaal will lead Nightcrawler with Russo co-starring.  The film will be the directorial debut of Dan Gillroy, who co-wrote The Bourne Legacy with his brother, Tony Gillroy; the duo will co-produce the thriller.  Gyllenhaal will be seen later this year opposite Hugh Jackman in Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners, and may replace Jude Law in Gavin O'Connor's Jane Got a Gun, which recently got off to a rocky start.