Deals: Jesse L. Martin, Joaquin Phoenix, 'Spidey 3'

-Talk about perfect casting! Law & Order and Rent star Jesse L. Martin (left) will star in Marvin Gaye biopic Sexual Healing.

-Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix reunite with The Yards director James Gray for crime drama We Own the Night.

–Six Feet Under‘s James Cromwell joins Spider-Man 3 cast as Captain Stacy, father of Peter Parker love interest Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard)

–Underworld: Evolution‘s Scott Speedman will partner with Willem Dafoe as detectives in serial-killer thriller Anamorph.

-Following up A History of Violence, director David Cronenberg’s next movie is Maps to the Stars, a dark Hollywood satire by Bruce Wagner (I’m Losing You). It’ll be the veteran Canadian director’s first movie shot in the U.S.

–Scream‘s David Arquette makes his directing debut with horror movie The Tripper, about a serial killer stalking a rock festival. Arquette, who is also the film’s producer and co-screenwriter, will play a cameo role in the film, as will wife Courteney Cox.

-Jason Bateman is joining Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman in fantasy film Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Filming begins next month — guess Bateman figures he’s not going to be shooting more episodes of Arrested Development anytime soon.

-Lifetime has teamed up with Peter Guber’s Mandalay Television and author Nora Roberts to produce four films based on Roberts’ best-selling novels. (An interesting stat: According to Lifetime, Roberts’ books sell on average at the rate of 21 books a minute.) Six novels are being considered for adaptation (Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon, Montana Sky, The Villa, Brazen Virtue, and River’s End), though only four will ultimately be chosen. –Paul Katz

addCredit(“Jesse L. Martin: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com”)