Director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan) and actor Bradley Cooper both recently saw their respective Warner Bros. projects hit the skids. The director was set to make Akira, while Cooper was going to play Lucifer in Paradise Lost.
With both of those films scuttled for now, WB may be pairing the two men on another project: Here There Be Monsters, the film written by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) in which a disgraced British Naval Officer encounters a giant sea serpent. Read More »
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Posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2012 by Angie Han
NBC’s Community may be on hiatus, but don’t think for a second that its cast has been slacking off. Not only is production still in full swing, several of the show’s stars have been working on outside projects as well. Gillian Jacobs, for one, has just wrapped Revenge for Jolly! and has a part in this summer’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. She’ll next head to Burt Wonderstone, with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey.
Directed by Don Scardino (30 Rock), the comedy centers around a Las Vegas magician (Carell) who finds himself upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Carrey). He then ditches his partner and tries to rediscover his passion for magic. Jacobs is set to play a woman who hooks up with Carell’s character after meeting him at one of his shows. The film already boasts a seriously talented comedic cast, with Brad Garrett, James Gandolfini, Steve Buscemi, and Olivia Wilde on board as well, and Jacobs seems like a fantastic addition. Burt Wonderstone is currently shooting in Las Vegas for a 2013 release. [THR]
After the jump, Jacobs’ Revenge for Jolly! co-star Oscar Isaac nabs another new role.
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Briefly: I don’t know what Russell Crowe‘s agent is doing, but it is working. Casting news and rumors have been thick of late for the actor. Though he said the report of MGM looking at him for RoboCop was untrue, there is still the matter of Crowe being in talks for Darren Aronofsky’s Noah and Akiva Goldsman’s adaptation of the Mark Helperin novel Winter’s Tale. He’s also playing Inspector Javert in Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables.
And now Crowe is also reportedly in talks with Warner Bros. to take a starring role in Harker, the Dracula retelling that Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan) is developing to direct. Read More »
Looks like the process of studios scrutinizing spending on films in development is a process that will continue into 2012. Disney put Lone Ranger on hold last year when the budget escalated to over $250m, and Warner Bros. started looking keenly at the budget for Arthur & Lancelot in mid-December.
Now the production offices for the live-action Akira have reportedly been closed and the film put on hold while WB figures out how much the film is really going to cost, and decides whether that money will be well-spent. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 by Angie Han
With any remake, one of the biggest questions is how closely it’ll hew to the source material. In the case of Jaume Collet-Serra‘s live-action, English-language Akira, we already know that the action has been moved from neo-Tokyo to neo-Manhattan, and that Warner Bros. has tapped the Caucasian, late-20s Garrett Hedlund to star as Kaneda, originally written as a Japanese teenager. A lot of our other assumptions so far, however, have simply been based on our knowledge of the previous film.
Now a recent casting call has revealed a synopsis of the plot, shedding some light on what we can and can’t expect to see changed in Collet-Serra’s version. For the most part the story seems to have made the move to our shores intact, though there are some noteworthy edits. Read more after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 by Angie Han
Say what you will about Jaume Collet-Serra‘s live-action Akira, but the casting folks have been making some pretty intriguing choices so far. Okay, so Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart haven’t exactly gone over great with the fans. But the first two actors we heard of getting offers were Helena Bonham Carter and Gary Oldman, with Keira Knightley being “approached” at some point and the likes of Michael Pitt and Paul Dano testing for the part of Tetsuo.
Now the bad news is that Warner Bros. has been unable to close its deal with Oldman — but on the plus side, they’ve given the offer to Ken Watanabe to replace him. More details after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 by Angie Han
[UPDATE: Deadline has confirmed that Stewart is in advanced talks for the part of Kei in Akira.]
I don’t have the numbers to back it up, but if I had to guess I’d say there’s a sizable overlap between /Film readers, Twilight haters, and people dreading Warner Bros.’ Akira remake. So I’m guessing that this bit of news is not about to go over so well. A new report has surfaced claiming that Kristen Stewart has been offered the female lead role of Kei in the sci-fi project, which is being directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan). More details after the jump.
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Posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 by Angie Han
As Garrett Hedlund continues his negotiations over the lead role of Kaneda in Warner Bros.’ Akira remake, the studio and director Jaume Collet-Serra are wasting no time filling in the other roles as well. Buried in one report about Hedlund starring in the film was a tidbit about Keira Knightley being approached for the project. Though her possible role has not been revealed, I’m guessing she’s up for the part of Kaneda’s love interest Kei, member of an underground rebel group.
Knightley’s involvement is far from a done deal at this point, as she’s yet to enter talks. Helena Bonham Carter and Gary Oldman, who were also given offers last month, apparently aren’t any farther along in the process either. Still, the fact that they’ve been approached at all suggests the filmmakers are hoping for a certain caliber of talent for the movie. (Not to mention a certain level of British-ness.) Knightley and Bonham Carter have both been nominated for Oscars in the past, and while Oldman has somehow escaped that honor, it’s not for lack of deserving. [The Hollywood Reporter via The Playlist]
After the jump, another potential project for Gary Oldman, while Jane Campion gets Holly Hunter, Elisabeth Moss, Peter Mullan, and David Wenham to sign on for her latest.
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