Alden Ehrenreich might want to thank Francis Ford Coppola for starting his career. Even though Steven Spielberg had a big hand in helping him get attention, this is a guy that went from basically being a complete unknown to the star of Coppola‘s Tetro, and he also has a role in the director’s upcoming Twixt. A part in an upcoming project that we’re anticipating quite a bit has just come his way, and it can only be taken as a good sign for him.

Variety says that the actor has joined the cast of Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker, where he’ll be playing “Whip Taylor, who’s initially kind to Mia Wasikowska‘s protag despite the fact that the jocks pick on her.” The cast he’s been placed into also includes Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Jacki Weaver, and Lucas Till. Written by Wentworth Miller (under the name of “Ted Foulke”), Fox Searchlight will distribute the movie, which is expected for next year. The story follows the aforementioned girl, named India, who’s visited by her strange uncle, Charlie, after the death of her father.

Ehrenreich is a fine actor, and I’m really glad to see him getting more work. This might not be the kind of project that a lot of people will see — bear in mind that not everything Fox Searchlight puts out has the popularity of Juno — but if he can give a good performance, things should follow from there. And, hey, even if things don’t take off because of this, at least he’s in something that sounds like it has the potential to be truly great.

Deadline, meanwhile, is reporting on Reese Witherspoon getting the lead part in a new film from Disney, titled Wish List. It centers on “an overly imaginative little girl who makes ten wishes at a wishing well” but doesn’t have the wishes come true because of the coin not reaching the bottom. 25 years later, the coin is moved, falling to the bottom, and she’s forced to “deal with the ramifications of 10 kid wishes coming true all at once.” Written by Randi Mayem Singer, it was first designed to star a male, but the main character was changed for Witherspoon.

Unfortunately for the movie, she’s an actress who I’ve never really warmed up to. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t like most of the characters she plays, or maybe I just don’t like her performances, but her being the lead instantly makes me less interested. The idea is cute enough, if obviously really high-concept. This premise, at the same time, also feels oddly familiar, but I’m not quite sure how; I just get the sense that a story like this has been told before. Maybe an episode of The Simpsons that I haven’t seen since I was about eleven?

Finally, THR has the news of Miley Cyrus starring in a new God-based comedy from Paramount. In addition to playing the lead, she’ll also be producing with her mother, Tish, through their Hope Town Entertainment; Andrew Panay, who was behind Wedding Crashers and When in Rome, is also producing, but I wouldn’t expect this to have the raunchy streak of the former film. The story, from Sam Brown and Jack Angelo, is reportedly about “a broken promise to God.”

While I’m probably not supposed to admit to having not seen Cyrus in anything… well, this is a case where I don’t mind saying that I haven’t seen this particular subject in anything. Some people truly hate her, but I simply don’t feel anything about her in any way — but I have no problem with that. An actual problem that I have with this news is that there could be a solid premise for a comedy in what we’ve heard, but her involvement very likely means that this will be PG and filled with messages about the importance of God. Thanks, but no thanks.

How do you feel about these actors being cast in these films? Do any of these projects seem like things you would want to see?