The Air Up There: People magazine's Sexiest Guy Who Cares About Political Issues, George Clooney, is in talks to star in Up in the Air, an adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel written and directed by Juno's Jason Reitman. Story follows a corporate downsizer, an unapologetic wise guy à la Aaron Eckhart in Reitman's Thank You for Smoking, whose life revolves around flying in planes, collecting miles, wondering what's the deal with those bins for razor blades in airplane bathrooms — is anyone actually shaving in there, and stealing jokes from Jerry Seinfeld? [HR]

Mind Your Own Business, RDJ: Robert Downey Jr. is in negotiations to voice a character in DreamWorks Animation's Master Mind, produced by Ben Stiller's Red Hour films. Tina Fey is also in discussions to join the movie, the story of a supervillain who loses his will to live after he accidentally kills his arch nemesis. With no one alive to feud with, he looks in the mirror and thinks, "My God, this is what it's like every day for Gore Vidal." [Hollywood Insider/EW]

Phelps Comes Alive: Winning gold medals in the 200 IM, the 4 x 100 free relay, the shot put, the steeplechase, and women's basketball wasn't enough for Michael Phelps; now he's set his sights on Saturday Night Live, which America's Hottest Buthisface will host in the show's season premiere on September 13. Expect Phelps to appear in — and win — every sketch. [Variety]

Dr. Livingston, We Presume: Ron Livingston, beloved hero of all things taking place in offices, will topline Raul Sanchez Inglis's indie comedy The Company Men, as an aging businessman who must battle the plummeting economy to save his sinking company. A challenge, to be sure, but it can't be harder than battling Lumbergh. [Variety]

Stranger Than Fiction: Rogue Pictures has started development on a sequel to The Strangers, Bryan Bertino's breakout horror thriller that grossed what's known in Hollywood as a "muthafuckin' Scrooge McDuck–style moneybin full of gold coins." Variety speculates that Liv Tyler will return for the sequel, which, for marketing purposes we'd definitely call 2 Fast 2 Strange (tagline: "This summer, the strangers shift into overdrive"). [Variety]