While David O Russell is normally seen as the changeable one with regards to projects (as anyone who was involved with either Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune would likely tell you), it appears he may have to make a change in the lead cast of The Silver Linings Playbook, with Bradley Cooper now back in talks to star.

Until recently, Mark Wahlberg was looking to reunite with regular collaborator Russell on the film, which finds a former high school teacher institutionalised for depression and then released into his mother’s care. As he tries to rebuild his life, he attempts to reconnect with his ex-wife, but also strikes up a relationship with a troubled neighbour.

The casting for the adaptation of Matthew Quick’s novel has been a textbook example of swings and roundabouts, since Cooper was actually in negotiations for the lead before dropping out and Anne Hathaway had been in serious contention to play the neighbour until her schedule on The Dark Knight Rises got in the way.

Following a trawl through the ranks of young actresses, Russell landed Jennifer Lawrence to take over that part, alongside Wahlberg. But now, with Lawrence’s Hunger Games commitment meaning Silver Linings has to be pushed back a little, it appears there will be a conflict for Wahlberg, which Deadline thinks could be motivated by him starring in Broken City.

So now the wheel turns and Cooper is once more in talks. And it sounds like he might be joined by Limitless co-star Robert De Niro, which we can see Russell also suggesting, since he wanted the actor to appear in Uncharted…