Chris Rock, Renée Zellweger, and Morgan Freeman are negotiating to star in "Nurse Betty," directed by Neil LaBute. The comedy centers around two hitmen trying to knock off a woman they think has spotted them doing a killing. Unlike LaBute's last two movies, "Your Friends and Neighbors" and "In the Company of Men," this one isn't written by the director. But he'll probably find a way to stuff an angry misogynist in there anyway.

Sandra Bullock, who both produced and starred in "Hope Floats," will pull double duty again in the black comedy "Gun Shy." She'll star with Liam Neeson, who plays a burned-out DEA agent trying to solve one final case before retiring. Maybe Neeson will study the Danny Glover weary-cop playbook and repeatedly say, "I'm getting too old for this crap" while ducking bullets: They don't call 'em "classics" for nothing.

In a bit of un-casting news, Ving Rhames has dropped out of Oliver Stone's "On Any Given Sunday." This is the second defection from this critical look at professional football starring Al Pacino. Sean "Puffy" Combs recently withdrew from his role as a quarterback ostensibly because of scheduling problems. (It also has been rumored that his football skills were subpar.) Rhames bowed out because Stone's film was delayed slightly and would run into the actor's next commitment, the "Mission: Impossible" sequel directed by John Woo.

R&B phenomenon Usher is considering a role opposite Forest Whitaker and Vanessa L. Williams in "Light It Up," about a group of teens who take it upon themselves to fix up their decaying high school. The script has been described as "an urban 'Breakfast Club.'" If that means Usher is the "urban" version of Anthony Michael Hall, he might want to hold onto his night job as a musician.

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