Oscar-winning writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana have signed a deal with Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox Television to develop a one-hour drama series.

Details on the project have been kept under wraps, but it is said to examine urban and rural life.

Mr. McMurtry and Ms. Ossana are in postproduction on CBS' six-hour Comanche Moon. Based on his best-selling novel, a prequel to Lonesome Dove, the miniseries stars Steve Zahn, Karl Urban, Val Kilmer and Rachel Griffiths.

Additionally, the writing duo is developing for ABC and ABC TV Studio the drama project Sheriff Luke.

On the feature side, Mr. McMurtry and Ms. Ossana are prepping Boone's Lick for Universal Studios and Tom Hanks' Playtone. Barry Levinson has signed on to direct and Mr. Hanks is attached to star in the project, which is based on Mr. McMurtry's novel.

Mr. McMurtry and Ms. Ossana won an Academy Award, a Writers Guild Award and a Golden Globe last year for writing Brokeback Mountain.

The Hollywood Reporter

Marcia Gay Harden and Toby Jones have joined The Mist, Dimension Films' adaptation of a Stephen King story being helmed by Frank Darabont.

The script, written by Mr. Darabont, is set after a strange storm blows through a Maine town and its citizens are attacked by deadly creatures. A group of townsfolk barricade themselves in a supermarket and struggle for survival. Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden and Amin Joseph already have been cast.

Ms. Harden will play Mrs. Carmody, an outspoken and ultimately divisive member of the trapped group; Mr. Jones will play Ollie, a mild-mannered supermarket manager who is forced to take heroic measures to save his life and the lives of others.

Shooting began last week in Louisiana.

Ms. Harden won an Academy Award for her work in 2000's Pollock and was Oscar-nominated for 2003's Mystic River. She will next be seen in The Invisible, directed by David Goyer, and recently completed Paramount Vantage's Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn.

British actor Jones played Truman Capote in last year's Infamous.

The Hollywood Reporter

George Clooney and Cate Blanchett are in negotiations to voice the lead characters in Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film marks Mr. Anderson's first foray into animation.

Produced by Scott Rudin Productions, the movie is an adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's story, centering on a clever fox who must outwit three mean, dimwitted farmers who try their hardest to hurt Mr. Fox and his family. Mr. Clooney would voice Mr. Fox, while Ms. Blanchett would voice his wife.

The movie is a reuniting of the actors, who recently worked together on Steven Soderbergh's The Good German for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Mr. Anderson will turn to Fox after he completes The Darjeeling Ltd., which he is editing in New York for Fox Searchlight.

Mr. Clooney is in production on Leatherheads, which he is directing and starring in for Universal Pictures.

Ms. Blanchett, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal, is in production on Paramount Pictures' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for director David Fincher.

The Hollywood Reporter