There are very, very few things I did not like about Ghotocol, and it’s all the worse that Josh Holloway was one of them. It’s not that his work in the film or the actual arc surrounding his character was bad — it’s that there was nothing. He runs from agents, does a cool jump off a roof, kills them, and gets killed himself. (Oh, it happens twelve minutes into the movie.) After Lost, he deserved something much bigger.

This next project is not on the level of Brad Bird‘s IMAX-enhanced actioner, but it should do some good. Variety says he’s taking another law enforcement role in Paranoia, the Robert Luketic-helmed thrill-a-minute picture starring Liam Hemsworth. As that character is forced by his boss (either Gary Oldman or Harrison Ford; either would be cool to have as an employer) to spy on their main telecommunications rival, Holloway‘s FBI agent does some investigating and “has a close eye on the protag.” Catching him’s going to be one son of a bitch.

Richard Dreyfuss, Amber Heard, Julian McMahon, Lucas Till, Embeth Davidtz, and Angela Sarafyan also star in Paranoia, which is set to open on September 27th, 2013.

Next, Deadline informs us that Abigail Breslin will take some awards material by signing for August: Osage County. John Wells has, by now, filled out his main cast with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, while Chris Cooper and Juliette Lewis have both started circling the project in recent days.

Breslin will play Jean Fordham, the daughter of Roberts‘ character, Barbara, described as “the 14-year old angry and acerbic pot smoking child.” Discounting the obvious differences in her own physical appearance and this character’s age — and barring some kind of outright shunning of such an issue — it’s another solid (if not “spectacular”) choice for what The Weinstein Company hopes can really rake in some statues next year.

August: Osage County will start shooting in the fall, and is set to open in late 2013.

Is it nice to see Holloway in a potentially high-profile project? Will Breslin work well amongst the Osage grouping?