Casting Net: Garrett Hedlund joins 'Unbroken'; Plus Bryan Cranston

• Tron: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund is set to time travel to World War II for Universal’s adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, about Olympian and prisoner of war Lou Zamperini and his incredible story of survival. Angelina Jolie is directing the adaptation, which stars Jack O’Connell in the lead role. Hedlund will play a fellow POW in the Japanese camp where Zamperini ends up after surviving on a raft in the Pacific for 28 days. Joel and Ethan Coen, who directed Hedlund in Inside Llewyn Davis, are the latest writers tasked with revising the script which has also passed by the desks of William Nicholson (Gladiator) and Richard LaGravenese (Behind the Candelabra). Unbroken will hit theaters on Dec. 25, 2014. [Variety]

• Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is gearing up to play Roman Holiday screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was famously blacklisted and sent to prison when he didn’t cooperate with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) is set to direct the film, titled Trumbo. [Deadline]

• Broadway star Patina Miller has been cast as Commander Paylor — a key leader of the rebellion in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and 2. The Tony Award-winning actress has appeared in Broadway productions of Pippin and Sister Act, and played the part of Pam Henderson on All My Children. [Deadline]

• White Collar stud Matt Bomer might not have been cast as Christian Grey, but he will get to portray one of Hollywood’s most handsome men — Montgomery Clift, who lit up the screen in A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity, before his early death. The biopic will be directed by acting coach Larry Moss. [Deadline]

• Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins) will head to Berlin to star opposite Vince Vaughn in the Ken Scott comedy The Business Trip. [Deadline]

• Gossip Girl alum Leighton Meester will star as a struggling musician in Like Sunday, Like Rain, an indie drama about a woman who must take on guardian responsibilities for a 12-year-old music prodigy. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong will play her boyfriend. [Deadline]

• Australian television actor Tom Cocquerel will be one of the kidnappers in The Kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, based on the true events in 1983 when the beer magnate went missing. Anthony Hopkins stars as Heineken. [Variety]