Casting Net: Brie Larson to star in Emma Donoghue's 'Room'

• Brie Larson (Short Term 12) is set to star as Ma in the adaptation of Emma Donoghue‘s 2010 best-seller Room about a kidnapped woman living in captivity with her 5-year-old son. Donohue wrote the script for director Lenny Abrahamson (What Richard Did, Frank). Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the book an A- and wrote: “Though the story’s chilling circumstances reflect the horrors endured by tabloid-famous abductees, Donoghue avoids all sensationalism. Instead, she gracefully distills what it means to be a mother — and what it’s like for a child whose entire world measures just 11 x 11.” [Deadline]

• Matt Damon is being eyed to star in The Martian, about an astronaut stranded on Mars. The sci-fi pic is set up at Fox and recently lost Drew Goddard as its director due to his Sinister Six commitments. [The Wrap]

• Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia) has joined the cast of Carol, Todd Haynes‘ adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novella The Price of Salt, starring Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett. According to the report, Brownstein has been cast in the part of Genevieve, “a woman who has an encounter” with Mara’s Therese. [THR]

• Salma Hayek has joined the voice cast of Sausage Party, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s raunchy animated grocery store comedy. She’ll play the part of Teresa the Taco. [Deadline]

• Mae Whitman (Parenthood) is in talks to star in The D.U.F.F., a coming-of-age tale about a high school student trying to break out of her D.U.F.F. status (designated ugly fat friend). [Variety]

• Terrence Howard has boarded Term Life, a thriller starring Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld. [Deadline]

• Theater actor Mark Rylance will play the Mad Hatter’s (Johnny Depp) father in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland sequel Through the Looking Glass, set to hit theaters May 27, 2016. [The Wrap]

• Daniel Craig has reportedly dropped out of the courtroom drama The Whole Truth, which also stars Renee Zellweger. Production was supposed to begin soon. [The Boston Globe]

• War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine will star in Roland Emmerich‘s Stonewall, about the Greenwich Village Inn that police raided in 1969 after discovering it to be a gathering place for the gay and transgender community. [Deadline]