Here’s a quick look at some of the casting announcements made recently:

Ghost Rider‘s Nicolas Cage may soon getting off the bike and heading behind bars. The actor, last seen in National Treasure, is currently in negotiations to play an inmate serving a life sentence in Scared Straight.

The movie, based on the program that tries to ‘scare’ temporary inmates into leading a clean life, will focus on an incarcerated teen held hostage during a prison riot. Cage, unable to sit back and watch this unfold, will reluctantly come to the kid’s rescue.

Scared - which will be directed by John Carpenter (Halloween) - should begin filming this October.

Sarah Jessica Parker has now officially agreed to star in The Ivy Chronicles. The movie, possibly her first post-Sex and the City project, will have the actress branching out and starring as…another New Yorker.

As Ivy Ames, Parker will play a recently divorced Upper East Side mother. The character, created in the novel by Karen Quinn, is forced to start her life over in less glamorous conditions when she also ends up losing her job.

The screenplay - which has not yet been completed - will be handled by Aline Brosh McKenna, the same woman behind The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses.

UPDATE: Ray Winstone has now taken De Niro’s role. Robert left abruptly after “creative differences.”

Robert De Niro is reportedly close to joining the cast of Edge of Darkness, an adaptation of a BBC miniseries. The movie, which will be directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), already has Mel Gibson attached to the project.

In Edge, Gibson will play a Boston detective who investigates the cover-up behind his daughter’s mysterious death. De Niro is scheduled to star as Darius Jedburgh, an operative sent in to clean up the murder. Shooting is set to begin later this month.

Next month, De Niro can be seen in Righteous Kill. The movie, directed by Jon Avnet, also features Al Pacino.