In today's Callbacks -- your daily roundup of casting news from Deal Central -- Jodie Foster gives Carey Mulligan an education, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller move from "Meatballs" to Legos, Alice Eve brings some heat to Emma Frost in Fox's "X-Men: First Class," Dino and Martha De Laurentiis option "Sigma Force" and someone at Radar Pictures loves playing "Mafia Wars" on Facebook.
Previously on Deal Central: Marvel recruits Tommy Lee Jones for "Captain America," Kevin Spacey is cast as the last of New Line's "Horrible Bosses," Spike Lee decides to make a "Nagasaki Deadline" and Disney sets a date for Miramax's creature feature "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark."
• "An Education" star and recent Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan is in talks to join two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster in Fox Searchlight's "Stoker," Mulligan's representation at CAA has confirmed to TheWrap.
Written by "Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller under the pseudonym Ted Foulke, the story follows an eccentric teenage girl whose estranged uncle returns to the family after the death of her father.
Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free Productions will produce the film, having recently worked with the studio on the Duplass brothers' relationship comedy "Cyrus."
Ridley Scott is reportedly considering the boutique project as a directing vehicle, although he's also attached to direct nearly a dozen other projects, so there's no need to get ahead of ourselves.
Mulligan next stars in Fox Searchlight's drama "Never Let Me Go," as well as Oliver Stone's upcoming "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."
Foster will soon co-star opposite Mel Gibson in the quirky dramedy "The Beaver," which she also directs from Kyle Killen's 2008 Black List-winning screenplay. She is represented by ICM.
• Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the guys who served up "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," are in final negotiations to write and direct Warner Bros.' Lego movie, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Dan Lin ("Sherlock Holmes") and Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee ("The Departed") will produce what WB surely hopes will be a "block"-buster. Lego's Jill Wilfert will exec produce, while Lin Pictures' Seanne Winslow will co-produce.
The plot is being kept under wraps and in the box, but it will be an adventure in the Lego world mixing live action and animation.
I remember making stop-motion animated movies starring Lego leading men for a world history class in high school. Some of the most natural performances I've ever seen if I don't say so myself. But I digress ...
In order to land the Lego gig, the "Meatball" duo had to impress protective execs from both WB and Lego, which insisted on having a significant hand in a development process that has been going on for more than a year, as the two companies weren't initially sure if they wanted a live-action or animated movie (really guys?). To please everyone, Lord and Miller's pitch incorporated both.
