In the wake of Hitchcock flopping last fall, documentarian-cum-narrative filmmaker Sacha Gervasi could use the opportunity to prove directorial skills a bit more forcefully. Enter November Criminals, a title which, according to TheWrap, he’s both rewritten from a Steven Knight screenplay and is expected to direct under the guise of Indian Paintbrush and producer Beth O’Neil. Furthering development, and serving as the crux of their story, is news that Chloe Moretz has been cast in a major role — but is not necessarily the star, judging by plot descriptions.

As adapted from Sam Munson‘s eponymous novel, the story concerns Addison Schacht, a Washington D.C. high school senior whose already-complex world (drug-dealing included!) is turned inside-out when a classmate, Kevin, is murdered, and Addison takes it upon himself to investigate. While this role has yet to be cast, Moretz is on-board to fill out the part of Addison’s best friend, Phoebe. Production will commence in January.

Then, from Deadline, word has it that Chris Pine will take up one of the titular roles in Horrible Bosses 2 (minus the numeral, I suppose), a project currently scouting its newcomers — in this instance, father-son antagonists. It’s a better-than-expected development for the comedy sequel, yet it’s still unfortunate that the patriarchal role would’ve gone to Christoph Waltz, whose current matters of scheduling have stopped that development.

With Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Aniston returning for Sean Anders (That’s My Drive, Sex Drive), Horrible Bosses 2 is scheduled to arrive on November 26, 2014.

Finally, THR inform us that Paramount and Peter Dinklage will come together for a hard-R, Bad Santa-esque comedy about, yes, people of the actor’s physical build. This untitled picture, scripted by Andrew Dodge (Jason Bateman‘s Bad Words), concerns “a man who tells people he is a true leprechaun”; only hilarity is expected to ensue, though one could reasonably guess about 40% of the jokes within ten minutes of their own time. Not that such a thing should be done.

Do any of the projects and deals seem particularly noteworthy or promising?

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