Amanda Peet and Joan Cusack join cast of <I>Martian Child</i> (15787)

Amanda Peet has signed on to star opposite John Cusack in New Line Cinema's The Martian Child. Joan Cusack also is joining the cast. Menno Meyjes is directing Martian, which is based on a short story by openly gay sci-fi author David Gerrold, perhaps best known for writing the classic "Trouble With Tribbles" episode for the original Star Trek series. The script by Jonathan Tolins and Seth Bass is described as the story of an unusual father-son relationship, a cross between Parenthood and E.T.

The film reunites Meyjes and John Cusack, who starred in the writer-director's 2002 drama Max. In Martian, Cusack plays a man who, after the death of his wife, adopts a 7-year-old who believes he's from Mars. (While the adoptive father in the story is based on Gerrold, the character of the film is being presented as heterosexual.) The actor's credits include Runaway Jury, Being John Malkovich, and The Grifters. Peet, currently onscreen in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda, will play the best friend of the man's deceased wife. She stars opposite Ashton Kutcher in A Lot Like Love, which will be released Friday, April 22. Joan Cusack will play the sister to her real-life brother's character in Martian. Her credits include Raising Helen, Ice Princess, The School of Rock, and the upcoming Friends With Money, by writer-director Nicole Holofcener (Lovely & Amazing).