John Malkovich is in negotiations to join ‘Warm Bodies,’ Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of the book by Isaac Marion about an existentially tormented zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult), who begins an unlikely friendship with the human girlfriend (Teresa Palmer) of one of his victims. Jonathan Levine (’50/50,’ ‘The Wackness’) is directing. Malkovich has most recently appeared in ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ and co-starred in 2010’s action movie ‘Red.’ He’ll play one of the bad guys in ‘Warm Bodies.’ [THR]

Each year the Kennedy Center selects five individuals to single out for their contributions to American culture through the performing arts. For this year’s 34th annual Kennedy Center Honors, the nods go to actress Meryl Streep, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins and singer Barbara Cook. President Barack Obama will salute the five at a gala — in which friends and other stars will perform and honor the quintet — that will air on CBS on Dec. 27. Previous honorees have included Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Carol Burnett, Luciano Pavarotti, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. [LAT]

Seth Rogen says he won’t reprise his role in Judd Apatow’s non-sequel sequel to 2007’s ‘Knocked Up,’ even though the film will revolve around the Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann characters from the original. “Yeah I’m not in it, but I went to visit the set and it looked hilarious,” Rogen told Movies.com. “It was a good choice, honestly, because I think [my involvement] would’ve confused people.” In addition to the returning Rudd and Mann, the film — which is still tentatively titled ‘This Is Forty’ — co-stars Albert Brooks, Megan Fox, Chris O’Dowd and Melissa McCarthy. [Movies.com]

Lars von Trier has his eye on a couple of male stars for his new film ‘The Nymphomaniac,’ a semi-porno opus about a woman’s sexual awakening. Or, as Von Trier put it, “an explicit exploration of female sexuality from ages 0 to 50.” Stellan Skarsgård — who has worked with the controversial director on ‘Breaking the Waves’, ‘Dancer in the Dark,’ ‘Dogville’ and ‘Melancholia’ — says he talked with von Trier about the lead role; Willem Dafoe, who starred in von Trier’s ‘Manderlay’ and ‘Antichrist,’ also has had a conversation with the director. ‘The Nymphomaniac’ will shoot in the summer of 2012, and there are currently plans for two versions: a hard core edition with actual sex, and a softer version for mainstream audiences. It remains to be seen which actresses will bare all and do all for the controversial director. [E!, indieWIRE/The Playlist]