It's that time when all those thirty-something actresses start hearing the peal of their biological alarm clock and then make a movie about it. Last year's Baby Mama proved a big success and now Jennifer Aniston has picked up the fertility-baton,signing up for The Baster, with Jennifer Lopez also announced for another artific-insem-com (hmm, that tag might not fly) .
Arrested Development's Jason Bateman will play best friend to Aniston's broody character – an insecure neurotic who substitutes his own semen in place of donor sperm she procures from the fertility clinic, which then leads to a child he fathered. It's the second time in recent years, after Juno, that Bateman's been hanging around with a broody woman: let's hope his character doesn't get cold feet this time.
**The Baster will be directed by Blades Of Glory tag-team Will Speck and Josh Gordon, and is written by Allan Loeb who penned casino-dupe hit 21. **It's based on a short story by Jeffrey Eugenides in The New Yorker.
Aniston and Bateman are both busy bees this year. She's got chick-flick He's Just Not That Into You out this week, and countless films lined up for 2009, including a turn as a travelling saleswoman in **Management **and alongside Aaron "Two-Face" Eckhart for bereavement drama Traveling. Bateman meanwhile has developed, produced and is starring in The Remarkable Fellows, as well as political thriller State Of Play, plus comedies **Extract **and Ricky Gervais's directorial debut This Side Of The Truth.
The Baster is due to begin shooting in the spring.