There is a staggering amount of casting news today thanks in part to the in-progress European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival, where producers take projects to gather foreign distribution deals and financing. So let’s get right to it.
First up, the Princess Diana film Caught in Flight, which will be directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Invasion, Downfall) has found a new Princess. Last year Jessica Chastain was in talks for the role — there was a moment where she was in talks for every big female role, it seems — but now Diana will be played by Naomi Watts. Losing Chastain is unfortunate, but if Watts is the replacement I can’t see too many complaints being aired.
Written by Stephen Jeffreys, the film will shoot later this year with an emphasis on the last two years of Diana’s life; that is, after her 1995 divorce, and through her relationship with heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan. “It charts how finding true personal happiness for the first time allowed her to achieve her defining successes evolving into a major international campaigner and humanitarian.” [Deadline]
After the break, Haley Joel Osment goes back to science fiction, and we catch up with two new roles for Katherine Heigl that were announced not long ago. Read More »
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Posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 by Angie Han
Clint Eastwood cast Beyonce Knowles as the female lead in his A Star is Born remake some time ago, but he’s been searching for someone to take on the male lead. Now it’s being reported that his top choice for the part is Leonardo DiCaprio, who worked with Eastwood on the biopic J. Edgar. DiCaprio is just the latest of several candidates who have been named for the part over the past couple of years — Russell Crowe, Gerard Butler, and Will Smith are among the actors once rumored for or attached to the film. DiCaprio would presumably be playing the role of Norman Maine, a fading star with a drinking problem who helps to launch the young starlet’s (Knowles) career.
DiCaprio isn’t the first actor I would’ve thought of for the part, but I’m all the more intrigued for it. We already know DiCaprio can do gloomy and brooding, but how often have we seen him do gloomy and brooding while surrounded by singing and dancing?
Eastwood’s A Star is Born is scheduled for a 2012 release. DiCaprio and Eastwood’s next collaboration, J. Edgar, will open later this year. [Deadline]
After the jump, the Sixth Sense kid is now old enough to play college students, and Jamie Chung signs up for a gritty indie.
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After his movie The Cross seemed to fall apart, writer/director Andrew Niccol diverted to a slightly more mainstream sci-fi approach: he’ll direct the ‘action love story’ I’m.mortal, which now has Amanda Seyfried set up to star. The film is about a society in which aging stops at the age of 25, which is as good an excuse as any to cast a lot of attractive 20-somethings. But because of the conceit behind the film, that’s actually forcing Niccol to find young actors who can play individuals who are a lot older than they look.
What’s the conceit? Variety explains a bit of the plot that we haven’t previously known: “In I’m.mortal, time has become the currency. Once you turn 25 and your aging gene turns off, you must buy and bank time. If you are rich enough, you can live forever. But if you run out of time, you are engineered to die automatically. When a rebel from the ghetto is falsely accused of murdering a wealthy man for his time, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful, rich hostage (Seyfried). Together, this duo rages against the system, living minute to minute. They discover that love is more powerful than all the time in the world.”
[Variety]
After the break, more Moneyball casting and the return of Haley Joel Osment. Read More »
It has been thirteen years since Forrest Gump captured audiences worldwide, and now we’re hearing that the often talked about sequel is close to getting greenlit.
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