Fade Out: According to Variety, Billy Bob Thornton and Kate Beckinsale are near deals to star in Fade Out, a thriller written by Michael Cristofer.

Cristofer will direct, and shooting begins June 28 in Nova Scotia.

Thornton will play a screenwriter with schizophrenia. He lives with his wife in a desolate New England coastal town and when he begins to write a script that mirrors his everyday life, the lines blur between fiction and reality. Beckinsale will play his wife.

Thornton, who recently wrapped the lead role in the Peter Berg-directed Friday Night Lights for Imagine and Universal, will start the film right after finishing the Harold Ramis-directed The Ice Harvest.

Beckinsale, currently in Van Helsing, will next be seen in The Aviator.

Cristofer most recently scripted "Casanova," the Lasse Hallstrom-directed film that stars Heath Ledger.