Machete star Danny Trejo (Machete)  is revving up to star in Tarantula, an indie biker thriller being directed by Oley Sassone (who helmed a lot of schlocky TV like "Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior Princess"). Erin Cummings ("Spartacus: Blood and Sand") will co-star.

Joel McHale is set to join Robert Rodriguez's Sky Kids 4: All the Time in the World, reports Variety. The comedian, best known for hosting "The Soup" and his recent breakout role in NBC's "Community", joins Jessica Alba in the film, which will be released in 3D next summer.

Natalie Portman has been offered the lead role in Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron's epic sci-fi film that seemed stalled last week when Angelina Jolie passed on it for the second time. Now it's Portman's turn to contemplate the ambitious film, which will co-star Robert Downey Jr.

Liam Neeson is in talks to re-team with his A-Team director Joe Carnahan for The Grey, a survival thriller being produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and Inferno Entertainment.

Jamie Bell, of Billy Elliot fame, has joined the thriller Man on a Ledge. This news comes on the heels of yesterday's announcement that Anthony Mackie had come aboard the Asger Leth flick, which features Sam Worthington in the lead.

The Channing Tatum/Rachel McAdams tearjerker The Vow has brought aboard two more stars: Scott Speedman ("Felicity") and Aussie t.v. star Jessica McNamee ("Packed to the Rafters"). Michael Sucsy is directing the film, which is based on the touching true story of Kim and Krickett Carpenter.

Here's the synopsis for the weepy: Two months after their marriage, Kim and Krickett Carpenter's Ford Escort was hit from behind by a fast-moving truck. A massive head injury left Krickitt in a coma for weeks. When she finally emerged from the coma, she recognized her parents and everyone else-but she didn't know Kim. She had no idea who he was. The "Krickitt" Kim had married essentially died in the accident. The Vow is the true tale of the reconstruction of two lives and a marriage after an event so shattering that most others would have parted ways long ago. Though it was not easy, and it tested every fiber of who they were, Kim and Krickitt fell in love all over again.

Ted Danson and Vinessa Shaw (Eyes Wide Shut) have joined the cast of Everybody Loves Whales, the 80s-set drama that also stars John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell and Tim Blake Nelson. Ken Kwapis (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) is directing.

A large cast - including Demi Moore, Thomas Haden Church (Sidways) and Kate Bosworth - has assembled for The Reasonable Bunch, the directorial debut of Barry Levinson's son, Sam Levinson. Ezra Miller (City Island), Ellen Barkin, Ellen Burstyn and Martin Landau (Ed Wood) round out the ensemble comedy.

Sara Paxton (Aquamarine, Last House on the Left) and Katherine McPhee ("American Idol") will top-line the David R. Ellis-directed Shark Night 3D from Sierra Pictures and Incentive Filmed Entertainment, reports Variety. Dustin Milligan ("90210") will also swim with the sharks in the action-thriller, which centers on a group of college friends who spend the weekend at a lake house, only to find themselves stalked by the toothy predators.

Charisma Carpenter (The Expendables) and Ty Olsson ("Eureka") have been cast in Crash Site, an indie survival thriller which just began filming in Vancouver.