We had a couple of days where mid-level casting for a lot of projects was going crazy. Maybe there was something in the air; maybe casting directors and agents just all got together and had a field day. It’s been a bit slower today, but still there are a couple of items to catch up on. After the break, you’ll find info on how:
- Robin Williams appears to be cast in Gently Down the Stream, with Robert De Niro and Susan Sarandon.
- Joel David Moore (Avatar) will be in Oliver Stone’s Savages.
- and Katie Cassidy takes the lead in Freaky Deaky. Read More »
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From Weeds to weed — Demian Bichir is making the move into Oliver Stone‘s world. The director is making Savages, based on the book by Don Winslow. He already has quite the cast lined up: Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson play up and coming pot dealers coerced into working for a drug cartel when their girlfriend O (Blake Lively) is kidnapped. John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Emile Hirsch, Salma Hayek and Benicio Del Toro are all in the cast, and now Demian Bichir has signed on, too. Read More »
Oliver Stone is quickly locking down the cast for Savages, the adaptation of Don Winslow‘s novel about two pot dealers (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch) whose mutual girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a drug cartel (Salma Hayek and Benicio del Toro) in an effort to coerce the guys into bowing to the cartel’s will. John Travolta and Uma Thurman also signed on, with that casting announced just hours ago.
Now Emile Hirsch, the great young(ish) actor who seems to do a spate of films then drop off the radar for a while, is in the film playing a role that is yet to be announced. That makes quite a cast so far — while it is difficult to get excited about John Travolta of late, the collection of people is a pretty serious lineup. Is this going to be the movie where Oliver Stone really roars back to life? [Variety]
After the break, while Ralph Fiennes remains a possible addition to the next James Bond film, he’s also in line for a part in Mike Newell’s new version of Great Expectations. Read More »
Many people might have missed this at WonderCon, but the Oni Press booth had our first look at the Timur Bekmambetov-produced alien invasion movie titled The Darkest Hour. Described as a 28 Days Later-type thriller, the story follows a group of American tourists visiting Moscow Russia when an alien invasion occurs.
The film stars Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Olivia Thirlby (Juno, The Wackness), and Max Minghella (Bee Season, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Agora, The Social Network). Chris Gorak directed the film, with a script by M.T. Ahern and Leslie Bohem with revisions by Gorak, Jon Spaihts, and Josh Zetumer. The film was shot last Summer in Moscow with a $40-$50 million budget. Summit Entertainment is distributing the film in the states while Fox International is handling international.
Hit the jump to see our first look at art created for the upcoming film.
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Another domino has fallen in an amusing cause and effect release date shift that began when Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret moved from December to Thanksgiving. That forced Rise of the Apes, which had already moved from the summer, to move back to the summer. That then caused The Smurfs to move up into July and now Summit has pushed The Darkest Hour, their 3D alien invasion film starring Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby from its original August 5 release date (originally shared with The Smurfs and Rise of the Apes) to December 23. Obviously there’s no confirmation that all of these things are related but it’s a little too intertwined to be coincidental, no? Read more after the jump. Read More »
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans producers Alan and Gabriel Polsky are putting together a film adaptation of Willy Vlautin‘s novel The Motel Life. The first talent is now on board, as Emile Hirsch has signed to play one of “two brothers who flee their Reno motel room after getting involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident.” Read More »
Did we really need another film rendition of Hamlet? Probably not, but I’d be lying if I said Emile Hirch and Catherine Hardwicke‘s “suspense thriller” take on the material didn’t intrigue me at least a little, if only to see how it’d turn out. Alas, looks like we’ll never know. For reasons that haven’t yet been made clear, the project is no more. Read More »
The Darkest Hour is Summit’s 3D alien attack thriller that started shooting in Moscow earlier this summer. The film’s title came true in an unlikely manner, however, and production was shut down due to overwhelming smog from nearby forest fires.
Now the production is back on track, so Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby can get back to work. That’s right — Hirsch and Thirlby, a fairly unlikely duo for a film about ” five young Americans who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.” Read More »
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