It may be called Carrie, but the juiciest role in both Stephen King’s book and the 1976 book is the lead character’s mother – indeed it gave Piper Laurie a rare horror movie acting Oscar nomination. Now MGM’s planned remake may have found its harridan of a mom in the form of Julianne Moore, according to Bloody Disgusting.

Chloe Moretz is set to star as the title character, a troubled teenage girl who uses her telekinetic abilities to get revenge on the classmates who tormented her. Moore will play Carrie’s deranged mother, who is more terrifying and damaging to her daughter the the school bullies.

Kimberly Peirce (Boy Don’t Cry) is directing from a screenplay by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The plan is to start shooting as soon as possible in order to hit the March 15, 2013 release date MGM has already set for it.

Foxcatcher has been in the works for years, and while it moved a bit closer to the screen last year when Steve Carell and Channing Tatum signed on to star, it still haven’t gone in front of the camera. Now it’s taken one step closer, as The Avengers star Mark Ruffalo has joined the cast, according to Variety.

In the based on a true story tale, Ruffalo will play Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz, with the film charting his relationship with John du Pont (Carell), who shot and killed him in 1996. John du Pont was the heir to the Du Pont chemical empire, but was also a paranoid schizophrenic. Schultz was a longtime friend to du Pont, who repeatedly tried to get him help before du Pont killed him. Channing Tatum will play Schultz’s younger brother, Mark, who was also an Olympic wrestler.

Production is scheduled to begin this October in Pittsburgh, with Bennett Miller (Moneyball) directing.

The last time Jennifer Connelly teamed up with director Darren Aronofsky, for Requiem For A Dream, it didn’t exactly go well for her character. Hopefully things will go a little better for her if rumours are true the Connelly is in talks to star in Aronofsky’s Noah – even if the film is dealing with the death of virtually every human on the planet.

The Tracking Board has the news, and says that Paramount is also showing interest in Saoirse Ronan for a supporting role. Jennifer Connelly will play Naameh, the wife of Russell Crowe’s title character, with the film giving an action-packed take on the biblical story of The Flood. As for Ronan’s charcter, it isn’t known which character she would play, or indeed whether an offer has been made to the actress yet.

Darren Aronofsky will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ari Handel, with production scheduled to begin in June.

In the UK, if you’ve heard of Buddy Cianci at all, it’s because the school Family Guy’s Chris Griffin used to attend is named after him, but in the US, he’s famed for being one of the most colourful politicians around. Now the LA Times reports that David O’Russell has signed on to direct a biopic of the former Providence, Rhode Island mayor.

Just from the title of his memoir, you can get an idea of why Cianci might be worth making a film about, as it’s called, ‘Politics And Pasta: How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt A Dying City, Advised A President, Dined With Sinatra, Spent Five Years In A Federally Funded Gated Community And Lived To Tell The Tale’. Cianci was mayor twice, but was forced to resign both times due to charges that led to felony convictions, once for assault and the second time for racketeering conspiracy (running a corrupt criminal enterprise due to the dodgy practices that were tolerated during his mayorship), for which he spent four years in prison.

It’s a slightly Boardwalk Empire type story, with Cianci always thought to be a bit of a wiseguy, corrupt character, but still much loved by the electorate.

Robert De Niro and his producing partner Jane Rosenthal are developing the film via their Tribeca company, with Russell attached to direct and help work on the script. It’ll now go onto O’Russell’s pile, which also includes a Russ Meyer biopic, the comedy drama Old St Louis, and the congressional sting drama American Bullshit.