Casting! Here’s info one one potentially great project, one that will probably find an appreciative audience, and one that will perhaps just make you hungry. I’ll let you figure out which is which:
- Wentworth Miller joins Park Chan-wook’s first English-language film, Stoker,
- John C. McGinley will realize his destiny by playing police chief to Tyler Perry in I, Alex Cross,
- and Tyler Posey will go to war with rival taco vendors in Taco Shop.
Read More »
.
Please Recommend /Film on Facebook
Posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 by Angie Han
Way back in late 2010, we reported on the potential casting of Bradley Cooper in the lead role for David O. Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook. At some point, however, Mark Wahlberg emerged as the star of the film, and Cooper was no longer associated with the project. Now, it’s looking like we’re back to square one, with Wahlberg out and Cooper back in. Wahlberg has dropped out of the film due to a scheduling conflict with a different project (possibly Broken City with Allen Huges), and Cooper is currently in talks to replace him.
Also in talks for the movie is Robert De Niro, who met with Russell earlier this summer regarding an unnamed part. Jennifer Lawrence is still set to co-star as the main character’s love interest. Based on a novel by Matthew Quick, the film follows a former high school teacher (that’d be Coopers part) who’s just been released from a four-year stint at a mental institution into the care of his mother. [Deadline]
After the jump: Reese Witherspoon teams up with Disney, Alden Ehrenreich joins Stoker, and Doctor Who star Karen Gillan nabs an indie romance.
Read More »
I had hoped that Joel Schumacher‘s new film, Trespass, would be an example of the rare form he displays every few years. The cast seemed promising: Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman play a couple taken hostage in their own home by Ben Mendelsohn, Cam Gigandet and Liana Liberato. My hopes may have been in vain.
Millennium Entertainment picked up the film for release not long ago, but we hadn’t heard any plans to actually release it, much less glimpsed any footage. Now there is a poster, and some fine print that indicates the movie will get a very narrow theatrical run before landing on DVD. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2011 by Angie Han
Alia Shawkat may not be quite as ubiquitous as Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman, but she’s been quietly beefing up her film resume over the past few years. Recently, Shawkat added two more projects to her slate: He Loves Me, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris‘ follow-up to Little Miss Sunshine; and The Brass Teapot, starring Juno Temple and Michael Angarano.
He Loves Me revolves around a lonely young novelist (Paul Dano) who writes a fictional dream girl for himself — and manages to will her into existence. (She’ll be played by Dano’s real-life girlfriend Zoe Kazan, who also wrote the script). Shawkat will play a hipster who’s obsessed with one of Dano’s literary creations, and who has a crush on the novelist himself. Annette Bening, Deborah Ann Woll, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould, and Chris Messina are also set to star.
The Brass Teapot marks the feature film debut of director Ramaa Mosley, known for her work in commercials and music videos. The dark comedy follows “a broke young couple who steal a brass teapot that produces cash whenever someone feels pain.” Shawkat will play the best friend of Temple’s character; I’m assuming Temple and Angarano will play the main couple. [Variety]
After the jump, Animal Kingdom star Jacki Weaver picks up a new gig, and David Oyelowo signs up for Lee Daniels’ new project.
Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 by Angie Han
Last month, Nicole Kidman came in as a replacement for Sofia Vergara on The Paperboy, after Vergara and Tobey Maguire dropped out of the project due to scheduling issues. Now, a new actor has stepped up to fill Maguire’s role: John Cusack. Based on a 1955 novel by Pete Doctor, The Paperboy follows a reporter and his brother as they investigate a murder that put the suspect on death row. Cusack will play the part of the prisoner. Kidman, as previously reported, will be a woman who writes letters to inmates on death row.
The Paperboy marks Lee Daniels‘ follow-up to 2009′s Precious, which was nominated for six Academy Awards. The film will also star Zac Efron; Matthew McConaughey is currently in advanced negotiations. [Variety]
After the jump, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould, Chris Messina, and Deborah Ann Woll sign up for the Little Miss Sunshine team’s new project.
Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 by Angie Han
Normally, when a star drops out of a project just before it’s set to begin shooting, it’s a big setback. In Lee Daniels‘ case, Tobey Maguire‘s exit from The Paperboy could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Maguire recently dropped out of the film, which was originally scheduled to begin this summer. His exit pushed back the timetable for the project, forcing would-be co-star Sofia Vergara to quit due to conflicts with her Modern Family shooting schedule. Now producers are in talks with Nicole Kidman to replace Vergara — a pretty impressive upgrade, at least in terms of star wattage.
Based on a 1955 novel by Pete Dexter, The Paperboy revolves around a reporter who works with his brother to investigate a murder that put the suspect on death row. Kidman would play “a woman with a dark side” who first draws the reporter’s attention to the case, and eventually strikes up a relationship with him. Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron are still on board to co-star; there’s no word yet on who might be replacing Maguire. [The Hollywood Reporter]
After the jump, Rosario Dawson joins Josh Duhamel, Bruce Willis, and Curtis Jackson a.k.a. 50 Cent in Fire with Fire, Jeremy Irons signs on for Night Train to Lisbon, and I continue to avoid all the obvious puns, for once.
Read More »
There’s a reason this article is illustrated with a ten-year old image of Nicole Kidman in The Others: she’s not quite a stranger to making low-budget chillers, and now she seems to be tapped for a new one. Saw and Insidious director James Wan is putting together a movie called Spectre, and a throwaway mention in a Variety report on Cannes sales mentions that Nicole Kidman is in talks to star. We don’t know what the film is, but knowing James Wan’s general M.O. I’ll let you guess the basics. Nicole Kidman already has one thriller in the can for this year (Joel Schumacher’s Trespass, with Nic Cage) and may be Park Chan-Wook’s Stoker and/or Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful. But I’ll admit: fond memories of The Others make me hope this comes together.
After the break. Mark Strong gets ready to punch, and Amber Heard is in a film called Syrup. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 by Angie Han
Late last year, Salt director Phillip Noyce became the latest director to sign on for Our Wild Life, based on the story of Kenyan elephant conservationist Daphne Sheldrick. (Whose work was recently documented in the IMAX film Born To Be Wild.) The project had already racked up a pretty troubled history by this point — Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) was originally attached to direct, but left on bad terms. He eventually sued New Line for not letting him direct from his own rewrite of Jeff Stockwell’s original script. Since then, The Motorcycle Diaries director Walter Salles has picked up and dropped the project, and Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, and Drew Barrymore have each been reported or rumored to star at some point.
Now, a new story suggests that Nicole Kidman may be the latest actress to attempt to get the project up and running — but her involvement is nowhere near certain. Kidman is said to have “read and liked the script,” which is certainly not the same thing as “signing on to the project.” Indeed, her rep at CAA has said that she is not officially attached to Our Wild Life at this point. Still, it’s possible we’ll be hearing about more solid negotiations sometime in the near future.
Then again, maybe we won’t. As The Playlist points out, scheduling conflicts may ultimately prevent Kidman from coming on board, no matter how much she loved the script. Our Wild Life is reportedly aiming to begin shooting in September, but Kidman has already committed to starring opposite James Franco in Sweet Bird of Youth on Broadway this fall. We’ll keep you updated as Kidman’s involvement, or lack thereof, becomes clearer. [The Wrap via The Playlist]
After the jump, an actress you’ve probably seen but don’t know by name snags not one, not two, but three new roles.
Read More »
