Catherine Zeta-Jones joins the impressive cast of Rock of Ages!

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Catherine Zeta-Jones is in final negotiations to join the cast of director Adam Shankman’s musical Rock of Ages.

Zeta-Jones, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for 2002's big screen musical Chicago, will play the villain of the movie, a part that was not in the stage production.

“It’s a character that we only really came to in the last month,” said Shankman. “The character was invented to streamline the stories.”

Shankman described the character as "if Tipper Gore and Anita Bryant had a love child. She is this hardcore, moral majority, arch-conservative who wants to shut down rock’n roll in the great city of Los Angeles."

“It’s like the musical gods just blessed us!” he said regarding Zeta-Jones’ boarding.

Based on the Broadway musical, the New Line production, which is scheduled to begin shooting May 19 in Miami, is also set to star newcomer Diego Gonzalez Boneta along with Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Mary J. Blige, Paul Giamatti and Julianne Hough.

Ages tells the story, replete with hair-band music, of a small-town girl (Hough) who comes to Hollywood for the 1980s music scene and is nearly destroyed by it. Although she falls for a budding musician named Drew (Boneta), she also catches the eye of Stacee Jaxx (Cruise), an arrogant rocker at the height of his career, ends up as a stripper in a club run by Blige but also finds true love at the end.

Amy Adams and Paul Giamatti could be the next to join Rock of Ages...

...according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Paul Giamatti is circling Rock of Ages, New Line’s all-star adaptation of the Broadway musical.

New Line is in talks with the actor even as the studio meets Thursday with Amy Adams for another key part.

Adam Shankman is directing the pic, which already has Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige and Julianne Hough warming up their pipes.

Ages tells the story, replete with hair-band music, of a small town girl (Hough) who comes to Hollywood for the 1980s music scene and is nearly destroyed by it. She catches the eye of Stacee Jaxx (Cruise), playing an arrogant rocker at the height of his career, ends up as a stripper in a club run by Blige but also finds true love at the end.

(The studio is conducting an open casting call to find an actor to play the girl’s love.)

Giamatti would play Paul Gill, a music exec brimming with L.A. charm. Adams could end up playing Constance Sack, a reporter from a magazine who intends to interview Jaxx.