1. Jon Stewart will take a 12-week break – essentially the whole summer – from his duties as host of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” to make his directorial debut. “Rosewater,” from a screenplay written by Stewart, is based on the 2011 book “Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival,” by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy, and focuses on “Bahari’s harrowing ordeal of leaving London in June 2009 to cover Iran’s presidential elections,” where “the BBC journalist expected to be away for a week. Instead, he spent the next 118 days in Iran’s most notorious prison being brutally interrogated by a man he knew only by one thing: he smelled of Rosewater.” “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver will take over for Stewart during his absence. [Artsbeat]

2. Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner are in talks to star in the Off-Broadway premiere of “The Commons of Pensacola,” a new play from fellow actress Amanda Peet. This will be the first play from Peet, who appeared in “Barefoot in the Park” on Broadway,” as well as in Neil LaBute’s “The Break of Noon” off-Broadway. Manhattan Theatre Club’s Lynne Meadow will direct the play, which concerns a “family weathering a major financial crisis.” [Playbill]

3. Emma Stone, Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, and Zach Galifianakis will star in “Birdman,” a comedy from writer/director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu. The film “is a dark comedy that follows a former actor, who once played an iconic superhero, as he mounts a Broadway play based on a Raymond Carver short story in a bid to reclaim past glory. However, the play’s egotistical leading man threatens to throw everything down the tubes.” Keaton will play the former movie star, Stone will play his daughter, Watts an actress in the play, and Galifianakis the producer. “Birdman” will be a departure for Inarritu, who previously directed heavy-handed films such as “21 Grams” and “Babel.” [Hollywood Reporter]

4. Chloe Sevigny has joined Fox’s recently renewed “The Mindy Project” for a multi-episode arc. The actress will play Christina, “an experienced war photographer who also happens to be the ex-wife of Danny, Chris Messina’s grumpy but sensitive doctor.” Sevigny has gravitated toward television projects as of late – last year, she starred in “Hit & Miss,” as well as joining the ensemble of “American Horror Story: Asylum.” [EW]

5.  Watch the trailer for “Frances Ha,” the new film from director Noah Baumbach. Greta Gerwig (who co-wrote the film with Baumbach) stars in the title role, “a modern dancer who can’t get any breaks actually dancing.” Things get worse for her when her best friend and roommate decided to move out. Oh, the problems of being young. The film opens in limited release on May 17.  [Vulture]

Previously: “Lucky Guy,” Living Theater, Rebecca Hall, Fox, Parquet Courts

Image: Jon Stewart/Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS

Tags: Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Amanda Peet, Birdman, Blythe Danner, Chloe Sevigny, Daily Show, Emma Stone, Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig, Jon Stewart, Maziar Bahari, Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, News, Noah Baumbach, Rosewater, Sarah Jessica Parker, The Commons of Oensacola, The Mindy Project, Zach Galifianakis