Casting Call: Nielsen, Elizabeth, Garcia, Russell

November 20 -- Gladiator's Connie Nielsen is in for more on-screen carnage in The Hunter. The statuesque Danish actress is in talks to join Tommy Lee Jones in the tale of a trained assassin who hunts humans for fun. Gosh, that's never been done before. (See The Most Dangerous Game, Surviving the Game, et al.

The pic, which is set in Seattle, is set to start shooting early next year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen must first complete work as a suburban stalkee in One Hour Photo.

Jay and Silent Bob — and Shannon ElizabethAmerican Pie hottie Shannon Elizabeth is in negotiations to join the cast of Dimension Films' Jay and Silent Bob Strike Backfor writer-director-actor Kevin Smith. The project is scheduled to begin shooting in January in Los Angeles for a targeted Aug. 10 release.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who starred in Smith's Dogma, are expected to make an appearance in the flick, while Jason Lee, Brian O'Halloran, and Jeff Anderson will star. Jay and Silent Bob, are of course, Smith and his sidekick pal, Jason Mewes. This will mark the fourth and final chapter in Smith's New Jersey chronicles (Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy).

Elizabeth is currently shooting Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis' remake of William Castle's 1960 horror flick 13 Ghosts.

Russell Joins Crowe ThrillerRussell, meet Crowe. No, not that Aussie feller, but Kurt Russell and Cameron Crowe. The Escape From New York dude is in final negotiations to form the fourth corner in the love quadrangle of Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz in the Crowe-directed thriller Vanilla Sky.The film is a remake of the 1997 Spanish-language mindbender Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) from director Alejandro Amenabar.

Russell's next film in theaters will be 3,000 Miles to Graceland, due for a February release, his first film since 1998's poorly received Soldier.

Garcia, Margulies in FieldsAndy Garcia will star in The Man From Elysian Fields as a struggling artist who's having problems with his wife (Julianna Margulies) and begins frequenting an escort service (run by the always reliably decadent Mick Jagger).