Mike Fleming

Cameron Diaz Cast CounselorBREAKING: Cameron Diaz is in final negotiations to join the spectacular cast of The Counselor, the Ridley Scott-directed drama based on the original script by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. She will join Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. It is a strong supporting role she’ll play, named Malkina. Fassbender plays the title role of a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe into the drug business without getting sucked down, which proves to be a life-threatening decision.

It continues the charmed track the film has been on since McCarthy surprised his ICM agents by delivering his first spec script late last year, with Nick Wechsler and Chockstone’s Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz (who produced the screen adaptation of McCarthy’s The Road) buying it preemptively. It has been a magnet for talent, particularly after Scott cleared the decks to direct it next, and set his Prometheus star Fassbender to star. The director’s Scott Free came aboard to produce with Wechsler and the Chockstone duo. That gave Fox first crack at the film, and the studio recently closed a deal to release the picture. Next came commitments from both Pitt and Bardem (who won his Best Actor Oscar for the Coen brothers-directed adaptation of McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men), and subsequently Cruz.

The project has been described to me as No Country For Old Men on steroids.

Diaz most recently starred in Bad Teacher, and stars in the upcoming Lionsgate comedy What To Expect When You’re Expecting. She’s repped by CAA and managed by Rick Yorn.