Casting Net: Denzel Washington to play 'The Equalizer.' Plus: Jon Favreau, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber

• Further cementing his career second act as an action star, Denzel Washington is closing a deal to star in The Equalizer, a loose adaptation of the 1980s CBS series about a onetime military covert ops agent who helps civilians in need. No director is attached, but the current script was penned by Richard Wenk (The Mechanic, 16 Blocks). [Deadline]

• Jon Favreau has joined director Martin Scorsese‘s adaptation of the high-stakes stock market memoir The Wolf of Wall Street, playing a securities lawyer. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Jean Dujardin, Kyle Chandler, and Rob Reiner costar. [Deadline]

• Jay Baruchel is close to signing up for the remake of Robocop, to play the marketing chief for Omnicorp, the ominous organization responsible for transforming a fatally wounded regular cop (Joel Kinnaman) into the title cyborg hero. Hugh Laurie, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, and Jackie Earle Haley costar in the film, to be directed by Jose Padilha (Elite Squad). [THR]

• Liev Schreiber is the latest actor to enroll to play an American president — namely, Lyndon B. Johnson — in Lee Daniels‘ The Butler, a chronicle of the life of Eugene Allen (Forest Whitaker), who served at the White House from the 1950s through the 1980s. Other castmates include Robin Williams (President Dwight D. Eisenhower), James Marsden (President John F. Kennedy), John Cusack (President Richard M. Nixon), Alan Rickman (President Ronald Reagan), as well as Melissa Leo (Mamie Eisenhower), Minka Kelly (Jackie Kennedy), and Jane Fonda (Nancy Reagan). Oprah Winfrey will play Allen’s wife. Daniels and Danny Strong (HBO’s Game Change) penned the script. [Deadline]

• David Morse, Brandon Routh, and Cory Monteith have signed onto the indie action drama McCanick, about a narcotics cop named Eugene “Mack” McCanick (Morse) who spends a day with his partner (Routh) seeking a recently released convict (Monteith) who knows the truth about Mack’s past. Josh C. Waller (Raze) is directing from a screenplay by Daniel Noah (Believers). [Variety]

Follow @adambvary

Casting Net: Kenneth Branagh to play villain in (and direct) Jack Ryan film. Plus: Lena Headey, Abigail Breslin, Josh Holloway

Casting Net: Gwyneth Paltrow eyeing foodie pic ‘Blood, Bones, & Butter.’ Plus: Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Kevin Kline