The writers responsible for The Smurfs — David Stem, David Weiss, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn — will be back for Smurfs 2. In fact, because the live-action/CGI combo thing takes so long to produce, they’ve already turned in a draft of the screenplay for the 2013 sequel. People hoping for topical political humor are probably out of luck. Grade: C [HR]

Sarah Silverman’s working on a new show — about a woman re-entering single life after a decade long committed relationship — and ABC, NBC, and FOX all want it. Also, it’s being produced by Ron Howard’s Imagine TV, and Howard is apparently so into the concept that he’s tagging along to pitch meetings. Can they just make a show about Ron Howard and Sarah Silverman in pitch meetings? Grade: B+ [Deadline]

Producer Nigel Lythgoe more or less already said she would be, but now it’s official: Jennifer Lopez is returning as a judge for the next season of American Idol. Okay, but what’s the status of her next album?! Grade: A [HR]

Matt Bomer has signed on to Steven Soderbergh’s stripper drama Magic Mike alongside Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum. Bomer will certainly get more exposure than he does on his USA show White Collar. Grade: B [Deadline]

Robert and Susan Downey are producing a movie on the USS Indianapolis shark-attack disaster that focuses on Hunter Scott, an 11-year-old boy who successfully campaigned to have the ship’s captain, Charles McVay, exonerated. Grade: B+ [HR]

Rosamund Pike has landed a coveted role opposite Tom Cruise in One Shot, Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of the Lee Childs novel series about Jack Reacher, a sort of vigilante drifter. Pike was competing with Hayley Atwell and Alexa Davalos for the role. So, take that Hayley Atwell and Alexa Davalos! Grade: C [Deadline]

Alejandro González Iñárritu will adapt Michael Punke’s The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, a book set in 1823 and about a fur trapper, mauled by a grizzly bear and betrayed by his pals, who sets off on an epic journey of revenge across miles of wilderness. Nice to see Inarritu, whose directed 21 Grams and Babel, going with some lighter material this time out. Grade: A [Variety]