Eisenberg is only in early negotiations for the lead part, while Gyllenhaal and Laurent only have offers, which they could easily turn down. When we first wrote about his project back in February we had heard that the central characters would in fact be the FBI investigators tracking down the rogue magicians, which means we’ll probably see Eisenberg only solving crimes, not pulling a rabbit plus 50 gold bars out of a hat. Disappointing? Sure. But it sounds like there will be plenty more craziness to be entertained by in the movie, which Leterrier has planned as his post-Titans film.

While Gyllenhaal has been known to seek out these kind of action-y roles, and Laurent is so new in her career no choice could be seen as unexpected, Eisenberg seems to be really stretching here. Sure, he did a little action in Zombieland and will be doing it again in 30 Minutes or Less this summer, but since his Oscar-nominated role in The Social Network he’s seemed to be leaning a little more eggheady, filming Woody Allen’s new film in Rome this summer and considering a reunion with his Squid and the Whale director Noah Baumbach. But hey, he’s young and has a lot of newfound starpower– why not chase down expert magicians in the company of Jake Gyllenhaal?

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The film would be directed and written by David Ayer, who recently directed Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker in the movie Street Kings, Variety said.

Details of the plot are not known, but the story would follow the friendship between longtime police partners, according to reports.

Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko star Jake, 30, has already been tipped as one of the possible new contenders to take the lead in The Bourne Legacy film, after Matt Damon left the franchise.

End Of Watch is said to be at an early stage with producers still looking for finance.

Writer-director Tony Gilroy has been in town this week meeting with several actors vying to play the new lead character in “The Bourne Legacy,” which is not Jason Bourne but a new assassin with a similar background. The list of thesps includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch and Kellan Lutz, sources close to the process tell Variety. Universal had no comment.

Insiders add that Gilroy has an idea of what kind of actor he wants but that U has also brought its picks to the table.

Insiders stress that no front-runner has emerged. Lesser-known actors could become a factor because Gilroy wants to screen-test all candidates — which may be a stumbling block for some established thesps.

No other casting decisions are likely to be made until the lead is set, lending the search some urgency if production is to begin in the spring as planned.

The focus on a new character will allow for the possibility that Matt Damon could return to the franchise in some fashion.

With a number of high-profile studio pics recently settling their male leads — including Warner Bros.’ “Superman: Man of Steel,” Fox’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and Universal’s “Dark Tower” — the top role in the next incarnation of the Bourne franchise has become the new must-get part among Hollywood’s young leading men.

“The Bourne Identity” (2002), 2004′s “The Bourne Supremacy” and 2007′s “The Bourne Ultimatum” grossed almost $1 billion combined at the worldwide B.O. Pics, based on Robert Ludlum novels, revolved around a trained assassin with amnesia who tries to uncover his identity while evading other killers and government agents.

Gilroy wrote all three films; Doug Liman directed the first installment, Paul Greengrass the latter two.

Universal is targeting an August 2012 release for “Bourne Legacy.”

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Seems after Prince of Persia (or as we like to call it: Sucked, Needed More Shirtless Scenes) Jakey-poo’s muscles may be more recognizable than his adorable puss. At least, that’s how the bearded boy is getting spotted lately:

‘Cause while the facial hair might throw some off, those arms are unmistakable.

Jake hit up a beginner’s yoga class at Yoga Works in Los Angeles last week and left his fellow classmates sweating from more than just Downward Facing Dog.

Wearing shorts and a tank-top—and of course the signature full beard (which we think he can pull off in a way Brad Pitt never could)—Jake tried to hide out in the back of the class. Uh, no chance there!

“His arms looked amazing,” a swooning stretcher reveals, dishing that the dude was in “incredible physical shape.”

Aside from his rock-hard bod, which we’re relieved to know he hasn’t ditched post-Persia, our pelvic-thrusting talker says that J.G. was way chill. As if we ever had doubts about his personality. It’s why we love him!

And who better to work off all that unlucky-in-love stress, alongside Jakey, than the recently single…

Rachel Bilson, who was also in attendance. Our spy wasn’t positive if they were together (as in together in the class, mind you) but revealed that Rach looked “extremely beautiful” and “perfect.”

Um, where the hell do we sign up for this yoga class?

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• Ryan Reynolds
• Tom Hardy
• Zac Efron
• James McAvoy
• Sam Worthington
• Shia LaBeouf
• Taylor Kitsch
• Garrett Hedlund
• Channing Tatum
• Jake Gyllenhaal
• Chris Pine
• Chris Hemsworth

Hit the jump for more details on the project, including the nature of the role the victor will play.

The lengthy list is culled from reports by Deadline and Heat Vision; the latter indicates that Reynolds is “emerging as the frontrunner.”  Washington finalized his deal weeks ago, and Universal is expected to extend an offer to one of the above shortly.

The thriller was scripted by David Guggenheim, with Swedish director Daniel Espinosa (Snabba Cash) making his English-language debut.  The plot revolves around “the only surviving agent of an attack on a CIA safe house as he tries to get a lethal prisoner to a second safe house before being taken out by violent forces that want them both dead.”  Washington will play the prisoner, while the chosen will play the CIA agent.

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‘Desperate Housewives’ star John Barrowman wants Jake Gyllenhaal to play him in the film of his life.

The actor – who portrays Patrick Logan in the US TV series – thinks the Hollywood heartthrob would be the perfect candidate if a biopic about him got the green light.

He said: “I would like to think Jake Gyllenhaal would be a good choice. It’s too obvious to say Tom Cruise because people say we look alike.”

Although John isn’t keen on Tom portraying him on the big screen the 43-year-old actor would like to play the ‘Knight and Day’ star’s brother in a film.

He added to Radio Times magazine: “I’d love to play Tom Cruise’s brother in a movie. His younger brother, obviously!”

And John – who previously starred in BBC sci-fi show ‘Doctor Who’ -also revealed he got on really well with his ‘Desperate Housewives’ cast mates, despite hearing rumours they would be difficult to work with.

The actor said: “I’d heard all the women in ‘Desperate Housewives’ were really mean, yet they were wonderful to me – completely different from what people had been saying.”

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The ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time‘ actor is unsure if he would be a good casting, but would be willing to make the necessary changes to play the role of the troubled ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit‘ singer.

He told NME.com: “I don’t know if I’d be the right choice. But the hair from ‘Prince of Persia‘ could translate somehow. We could just bleach it.”

However, his co-star in the computer game-turned-movie Gemma Arterton does not think he would be the best choice to play Kurt and would prefer to see a new actor in the role.

She said: “I actually read a script recently, which was amazing. Someone needs to play Kurt Cobain. I don’t know, maybe they should find someone new.

“Because when you’re playing an iconic character, when you get someone really famous to play them, sometimes you’re just watching a famous person play someone else and it’s nice when it’s a completely new person.”

A number of people have been linked to the movie project recently, including British actor Robert Pattinson and ‘Iron Man 2‘ star Scarlett Johansson.

However, Kurt’s widow Courtney Love vetoed the idea of 24-year-old Robert portraying the rocker, who committed suicide in April 1994.

She said: “Isn’t that so stupid, who would cast him? That’s just wrong, no offence. I watched the ‘Twilight‘ stuff very, very recently and I get it, it resonates with the teenage girl in me, I understand epic love of that nature; I write about it all the time. But isn’t that silly?”

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Seems like one vintage pair of exes can be still be sexy friends:

We hear Kiki was in town visiting Jakey!

Yep, the two former lovebirds, Gyllenhaal and Kirsten Dunst, were spotted hanging out again, thanks to their synchronizing work schedules.

Sorry, but we find this to be terribly good news. See, before those mundane coffee dates with Reese Witherspoon, Jake was all about lovey-dovey lunches at Joan’s on Third with Kiki. Everybody knows it was hardly just a latte affair.

But don’t get too excited just yet: We’re told things hardly heated up in Canada, just that the two exes were hanging together. Still think it’s supersweet.

Jake has been up in Montreal filming Source Code where Dunst was in town, prior to heading to the Tribeca Film Festival, where we must say, she’s been looking fab.

Sources tell us Jake and Kirsten casually ran into each other a few times while they were out, and then possibly made it a more purposeful bump-in later on.

They seem to be on totally good terms. Unlike J & Reese.

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The 29-year-old actor plays the lead in upcoming action movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. He had to put on an English accent for the role, and was so keen to give his best performance, he stayed in character from the day shooting began to the day it ended.

“Jake would chat with crew and visitors in a British accent,” a film set source said. “It was funny to hear this American guy talking in an accent when he wasn’t shooting. He took it very seriously.”

Jake bulked up for the film, following a strict diet and exercise regime to make sure he looked good in his skimpy costume. He was so thrilled with the way his torso looked, he spent most of his time walking around with his shirt off.

“It’s a very physical role. He was very proud of the way his body looked. He was constantly shirtless,” the source added.

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Experts at the Los Angeles Times newspaper’s The Envelope blog also tips Angelina Jolie, Ben Stiller and Michael Douglas for Oscars gold for their roles in “Salt“, “Greenberg” and “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps“. Douglas won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Gordon Gekko in the original “Wall Street” movie.

The film experts also predict troubled moviemaker Roman Polanski will be among the Best Director favorites for his film “The Ghost Writer” – even though he’s fighting extradition from Switzerland to America for sentencing in a 32-year-old sex assault case.

And the early favorites for Best Film, according to the website, are Danny Boyle’s new movie “127 Hours“, “The Kids Are Alright“, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn‘s “The Tree of Life“, “Inception“, western remake “True Grit“, Clint Eastwood‘s “Hereafter (2010)” and Johnny Depp‘s movie adaptation of his late pal Hunter S. Thompson’s “The Rum Diary“.

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