Report: Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones Finalizing Deals for ANT-MAN

Marvel may be lining up its leads for the forthcoming ANT-MAN.

Schmoes Knows, who scooped the recent Tim Burton/BEETLEJUICE sequel news last week, claims that sources have confirmed that Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones are finalizing their deals to lead Edgar Wright's upcoming film, following Henry Pym, "a brilliant scientist who invented a substance that allowed him to change his size." Jones would play Janet van Dyne, later known as The Wasp.

Sources also recently told Superhero Movie News that "Janet will be a love interest and a major supporting character, we would see multiple references to her future as The Wasp throughout the film."

The report suggests that Janet will in fact become the The Wasp at some point in the franchise's future, and join Ant-Man alongside The Avengers.

As previously reported, Rudd emerged as the studio's favorites to take on the role, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt also reportedly being in the initial mix. The actor was quick to squash the ANT-MAN rumors, however.

Should the duo sign on, it would reunite them after the 2009 buddy comedy I LOVE YOU, MAN.

ANT-MAN, penned by Wright and Joe Cornish, is set for a July 31, 2015 release.

Paul Rudd made his Broadway debut in Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo in 1997 and has since starred in Twelfth Night (1998), Three Days of Rain (2006) and Off Broadway in The Shape of Things (2001), among many other stage productions. Kate Arrington, who is currently appearing at the Goodman Theatre in Iceman Cometh opposite Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy, is aSteppenwolf Theatre ensemble member, whose productions there include The Hot L Baltimore, The Well-Appointed Room, The Pain and the Itch and The Violet Hour. Edward Asner last appeared on Broadway in 1989, opposite Madeline Kahn in Born Yesterday. This production of Grace marks its New York Premiere (in an updated script) and the Broadway debuts of playwright Craig Wright, director Dexter Bullard, and Michael Shannon, who have a fifteen-plus year history of collaboration in the theater on works including, most recently, Mistakes Were Made.

Jones, who will depart NBC's PARKS AND RECREATION in the middle of the upcoming season, and can next be seen in CUBAN FURY and DECODING ANNIE PARKER.

Photos by: Walter McBride; © RD/Vince Vega/Retna Digital

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