The Weekly Casting Couch: Charlize Theron, Amy Poehler, Paula Abdul

Kara's in and Paula's out on Fox's American Idol, Charlize Theron becomes a lawman and Alyssa Milano being romantically challenged top the headlines as Amy Poehler, Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz and Carla Gugino also star in this week's Hollywood Trade Roundup.

Moviegoers got their laugh on with Judd Apatow's latest comedy Funny People topping the weekend at the boxoffice with $23.4 million, with Emma Watson and her Hogwarts co-horts coming in second with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince besting G-Force for the frame.

Former Monster Charlize Theron has been cast opposite Sam Worthington for The Tourist. The remake of 2005 French spy thriller, the film revolves around a female Interpol agent who dangles an unsuspecting American tourist as bait in the hunt for a criminal who happens to be her former lover.

American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi will be back for the singing competition's ninth season when it returns in January. Meanwhile, Paula Abdul announced — via Twitter no less — that she won't be returning.

Production has begun on The Christmas Story, the story of a pregnant teen who runs away from her upscale life and winds up in a New Mexico trailer park. The indie film stars Linda Gray, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese andThe L Word's Cybill Shepherd.

Amy Poehler will reunite with former Saturday Night Live castmate Seth Meyers for the first two editions of NBC's Weekend Update Thursday beginning Sept. 17. The two episodes will lead into Episodes 1 and 2 of the second season of her sitcom Parks and Recreation.

Swoosie Kurtz, fresh off her lesbian mom-guest starring role on Showtime's Nurse Jackie, has joined Lifetime's Rita Rocks, where she will play series star Nicole Sullivan's mother.

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Alyssa Milano's upcoming midseason comedy, Romantically Challenged, has been picked up with a 13-episode order from ABC. Challenged centers on a thirtysomething man who is torn between his girlfriend (Milano) and his needy best friend. Look for Challenged to debut sometime in January.

Carla Gugino, who played the Sapphic-inclined Silk Spectre in Watchmen, has been cast in Zack Snider's next project: Sucker Punch, an action drama opposite Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone and Abbie Cornish. Gugino will play Mrs. Schultz, an adult figure in the mental institution where a girl (Browning) is confined by her evil stepfather who intends to have her lobotomized.

In TV ratings, HBO's True Blood hit another series high, drawing 4.3 million viewers to the Anna Paquin-toplined vampire drama.

Friend Jennifer Aniston will star in Goree Girls, the story of an all-female country band in a Texas prison in the 1940s.

The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt as the former monarch, has been selected to close next month's Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto gathering is renown in the industry as a jumping-off point for many films likely to wind up making headlines when Oscar nominations are unveiled.

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Meanwhile, there's a new leading man in Katherine Heigl's life: Josh Duhamel will co-star opposite the now-former Grey's Anatomy star in Life as We Know it. The film revolves around two unattached adults whose world is turned upside down when their mutual best friends die in an accident and name them as caregivers of their orphaned daughter.

MTV's Video Music Awards were announced Tuesday, with singing ladies Beyonce and Lady Gaga leading the pack with nine nominations each, followed by Britney Spears with four mentions. Taylor Swift, Pink and others are slated to perform at the Sept. 13 ceremony in New York.

Laura Dern, who helped Ellen DeGeneres out of the closet on the now famous episode of Ellen, has been cast to star in HBO's Enlightened. Written by Mike White (School of Rock), the project revolves around a formerly self-destructive woman, who after a spiritual awakening, becomes determined to live and enlightened life.

Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) has signed on to helm Buttercup, a dramedy centering on a middle-age man who attempts to get his life back in order after his wife's death.

Over on the Billboard 200 album charts, Fabolous' Loso's Way was the week's top seller, while Taylor Swift's Fearless holds at No. 9.

Looking to the weekend at the boxoffice, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Jane Lynch get cooking in Julie & Julia; Sienna Miller joins Channing Tatum in G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra; and Milla Jovovich joins Steve Zahn and Timothy Olyphant in the thriller A Perfect Getaway. In limited release, Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera star in the comedy Paper Heart, a filmmaker's trek across the country in a bid to make a documentary about love. 

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