Jake Gyllenhaal set for Gulf War movie

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in "Jarhead," the adaptation of Anthony Swofford's Gulf War memoir, Daily Variety reported Thursday.

The paper said that director Sam Mendes ("Road to Perdition," "American Beauty") is in talks with Jamie Foxx to join the cast as well.

Gyllenhaal ("The Day After Tomorrow") will play a grunt Marine. Foxx ("Collateral," "Ray") would play his squad commander.

Mendes would not comment on Foxx, since the deal was not completely done, but he said Gyllenhaal was cast after an exhaustive process of auditioning actors in their early 20s.

"You can safely say I saw most everybody in his age group," said Mendes. "And I was impressed by the talent out there."

Screenwriter William Broyles ("Polar Express," "Apollo 13") adapted Swofford's best-selling book, "Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles."

Mendes said the script features "the blackest of black humor, anger, surreal surroundings and forbidden fruit of what these guys really talk about and what really goes on out there."