When Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh exited the director’s chair on Warner Bros.’ upcoming The Man From U.N.C.L.E. back in November, this news was swiftly followed up by word that he would instead be filling his spring schedule this year with The Side Effects, penned by his Contagion and The Informant! scribe, Scott Z. Burns.

Casting on the project has been underway since the end of last year, and it looks as though we’re getting close to confirming the leading roles. The Playlist report that, whilst nothing’s official yet, Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Channing Tatum are all close to finalising their deals to lead the film, which I think sounds brilliant.

Lively, best known for her role as Serena van der Woodsen on The CW’s Gossip Girl, will be starring in the lead as Emily Watkins,

“a woman who turns to prescription meds to cope with the anxiety of the upcoming release from prison of her husband.”

Tatum, who’s worked with Soderbergh on the director’s next two films (Haywire and Magic Mike), will be playing the role of the husband, whilst Law will be playing Lively’s new psychiatrist, having loved working with Soderbergh on his last film, Contagion.

Though some might perhaps be sceptical of Lively in the film’s lead – I’m aware that not everyone enjoys Gossip Girl – I’d recommend you reconsider her roles in films like The Town and Green Lantern, which demonstrate that she’s more than proven her significant talents on the big screen. Along with Reynolds, of course, I thought Lively was pretty much the only saving grace of what should have been a brilliant superhero film last year.

Soderbergh announced early last year that he would be retiring from directing, at least temporarily (I’m hoping it’ll be a hiatus/short break), after making two more films – The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and his Liberace biopic. The Side Effects will be replacing the former, with plans to start shooting in April, before Soderbergh moves on to the latter later this year.

The director’s next film, Haywire, is due in cinemas in just over a week, released next Friday on 18th January, and you can catch up on all our coverage of Haywire right here. It looks like it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait, for all of his four upcoming films. This new news of Lively, Law, and Tatum in the leads on The Side Effects sounds so good.

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Since graduating, I spend as much time as possible watching films/TV shows, reading books, and listening to music. So getting to write about what I love is nothing short of awesome. Biggest film-related hope for 2014/ever: Guy Ritchie announcing the RocknRolla sequel is finally moving forward.