The U.K. Office star Ricky Gervais will co-write, produce, and direct coming-of-age tale The Men at Pru for Sony, according to Variety. Stephen Merchant, who worked with Gervais on The Office and Extras, among other projects, will join him on the movie, which centers around a group of men working in insurance in the 1970s. Gervais will appear in a supporting role. Production is slated to begin this summer.

Queen Latifah has signed on to lead Fox Searchlight’s romantic comedy Just Wright, according to Variety. The story revolves around Latifah — whose other romantic comedy credit is 2006′s Last Holiday — as a physical therapist who helps a basketball player recover from an injury and falls in love with him along the way. The project was in development at Disney for the past six years before being picked up by Searchlight. Filming is expected to begin in May.

Wrestlier-turned-actor "Stone Cold" Steve Austin will star in The Stranger, an action-thriller to be directed by Rob Lieberman in Vancouver this summer, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Austin has just completed principal photography on Damage, a fight film costarring Walton Goggins and produced by Nasser Entertainment Group and Caliber Media Co. — both of which companies will also produce The Stranger. Austin is a six-time WWF Champion and the only man in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble three times.

Simon Beaufoy, who won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar last month for writing Slumdog Millionaire, has turned his attention to a scriptfor DreamWorks Animation’s Truckers, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It’s early in the process, so nothing is known about film’s plot yet. Recently, entertainment blogs were abuzz with rumors that Beaufoy was going to pen Wolverine 2; Beaufoy’s manager said the writer was approached by Wolverine producer Lauren Shuler Donner to gauge his interest, but no formal offer was made. Ultimately, Beaufoy decided he wasn’t right for the project.

Taye Diggs (Private Practice) has signed on to play the head of a vampire family in the supernatural horror movie Dead of Night, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Diggs joins a cast that includes Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Anita Briem (The Tudors), and Sam Huntington (Fanboys). The film, currently shooting in New Orleans, is adapted from the Italian comic series Dylan Dog.