Casting Notes: Kristen Bell, Parker Posey And Mia Wasikowska Have New Gigs; Eliza Dushku Teases Videogame Adaptation

Just because Peter is back on the scene with Page 2 doesn't mean I have to skip the occasional casting roundup. First up, Kristen Bell will appear opposite Christina Aguilera in the musical drama Burlesque, not to be confused with that Showgirls sequel we talked about the other day. The film takes place in "a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club, reminiscent of the nightclub in Bob Fosse's Cabaret." Bell will be Nikki, "the loose-cannon lead dancer and main attraction at the club who spirals out of control when Aguilera's character suddenly gets the spotlight." A few tickets were probably sold based on that paragraph alone. [THR]

After the break, news on projects for Parker Posey, Mia Wasikowska and Eliza Dushku.

Parker Posey has joined the dark comedy Highland Park, starring Danny Glover as a teacher who wins the lottery and uses the winnings to restore his school's library and the community around it. Posey will be the town's opportunistic mayor. The film is shooting now in Detroit and has a real-life purpose parallel to the film: it is meant to generate funds to reopen the library in the real Highland Park neighborhood. [THR]

In all of this, I'm most interested to hear that Mia Wasikowska, star of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, has been cast in Restless, the new Gus Van Sant movie. THR reports that the story "delves into the complex tale of a teenage boy and girl who share a preoccupation with mortality," and that the male lead has yet to be cast. Wasikowska was evidently also considering a role in Robert Redford's Lincoln-assassination drama The Conspirator but took this gig instead.

Finally, while talking to MTV Eliza Dushku mentioned that the current video game WET, in which she plays a sexy leather-clad action heroine, is something that might become a feature film for her to topline. The game isn't terribly good, which doesn't matter in the deal, but seems unlikely to become any sort of breakout success, which might matter. I'd bet on Dollhouse getting a third season first. Dusku's exact quote (in which, yes, she vaguely refers to herself in the third person, which rules) reads like this:

This video game 'Wet' I just did, she's got a working class Lara Croft thing going on, and she's pretty kick ass. She travels the globe, she's in Hong Kong and she's in the UK and she's a gun for hire and she's got two samurai swords. She's pretty vicious. So that's been something that maybe could turn into a live-action Dushku vehicle.