I have some hope for a Shawn Levy comedy. Odd, I know, but all we’ve heard about his next behind-the-camera effort, The Internship, makes the thing sound wholly tolerable — even if it’s mostly due to the presence of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. But there’s more reason to be optimistic, since Variety has pegged Max Minghella (The Social Network) as being in early talks; Tiya Sircar (Friends with Benefits), Josh Brener, and unknown Tobit Raphael have already signed.

The Vaughn-scripted film revolves around two middle-aged company employees (he and Wilson) who, after being laid off, start working for an up-and-coming website. While, overall, a good job, the presence of “wily, fresh-faced 22 year olds” creates some office tension; Minghella fits in as “a ruthlessly competitive intern” with the drive to play dirty in order to get ahead. Sircar and Brener will be seen as other employees, with the latter actually being of assistance to our two protagonists.

It’s not a game-changing move on the production’s part — who knows how much screentime these characters will even get — but I appreciate this grouping nonetheless. (Especially Minghella, whose shift from The Social Network to The Darkest Hour needs to be amended very soon.) Levy‘s 21 Laps Entertainment, Vaughn‘s Wild West Picture Show Productions, and 20th Century Fox are behind The Internship, which is expected to begin production shortly.

Next up, Deadline reports that Mark Pellegrino (Jacob on Lost, Mulholland Dr.) and Michael Massee (Se7en, Carnivale) have landed parts in The Trials of Kate McCall and CBGB, respectively. The former of those two stars Nick Nolte, Kate Beckinsale, and James Cromwell, all three of whom will work for Karen Moncrieff; she’s crafted the story of a female lawyer who tries to regain custody of her daughter by defending a wrongly-convicted woman. Pellegrino will be seen in the film as “a rough detective who is no fan of Beckinsale’s once-high-flying attorney character.”

The other outing has received its daily casting update by way of Massee, who will also play a member of the law — this one, on the other hand, is “a local cop who is beaten down by the Bowery’s poverty and misery.” Randall Miller will direct Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, Rupert Grint, and a football field-sized assortment when it gets down to production on the 25th.

Finally, it’s also said that Sterling Beaumon (Astro Boy; Arthur Newman, Golf Pro) will lend some work to The Pretty One, starring Zoe Kazan and Jake Johnson. In writer-director Jenée LaMarque‘s debut, the actress appears as a woman who takes advantage of people who think she’s her dead sister; the New Girl star will portray her neighbor. This new addition, meanwhile, is set to play Hunter, a regular stud who’s taken up relations with his babysitter.

Where do these films stand with each new casting move?