Scarlett Johansson, Rachel McAdams and Amy Adams up for We Bought a Zoo.

The Benjamin Mee memoir We Bought a Zoo, which tells the story of an American who moves to England to operate a zoo, is currently in the casting stages, and Deadline reports that director Cameron Crowe wants one of four actresses for the lead female role. Among them are Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel McAdams, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. He already has Matt Damon leading the charge in the guy department.

Crowe co-wrote the script along with writing partner Aline Brosh McKenna, writer of The Devil Wears Prada. The Jerry Maguire-Almost Famous director hasn’t tried his hand at a project since 2005′s Elizabethtown, so it will be interesting to see if he’s lost a few steps in the interim, or if a layoff was just what the doctor ordered. This one’s still in pre-production, Crowe fans, so keep it tuned to BSC for further developments.