Garrett Hedlund, Margot Robbie and Toby Kebbell Have “Violent Talent”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

garrett-hedlund “World War Z” screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan is set to make his directorial debut and has set Garrett Hedlund to play the lead in “Violent Talent”, according to Deadline. Toby Kebbell, upcoming “The Wolf of Wall Street” star Margot Robbie and “Four Lions” star Riz Ahmed have supporting role sin the drama.

Hedlund plays Eamon in the contemporary Chicago-set drama. Eamon and his two best friends Quan and Angel (Ahmed and Kebbell) decide to build a criminal empire, believing “crime might be the most honest job around.” Robbie plays a character named Riley, likely to be a love interest of some kind. Carnahan also wrote the script.

Hedlund most recently starred in Walter Salles’ “On the Road” and will have the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” as well as indie ensemble drama “Lullaby” opposite Amy Adams out later this year. Australian actress Robbie starred on short-lived ABC series “Pan Am” before landing the female lead opposite Leonardo Dicaprio in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”, out this November. Kebbell had roles in “War Horse” and “Wrath of the Titans” and will soon be seen in Brit Marling’s “The East.” Ahmed most recently starred in Mira Nair’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.”

SNL Comedian Bill Hader to Star in High School Reunion Comedy “Lawless”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

bill-hader “Saturday Night Live” has typically been quite a career launcher for comedians, and now another star is hoping to cash in. THR reports Bill Hader, who is still a current cast member, is set to star in indie comedy “Lawless”, apparently the most popular movie title of the moment.

Comedy writers Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, who penned Jim Carrey hit “Yes Man”, will make their directorial debut on this project. This “Lawless”, not to be confused with John Hillcoat’s violent Prohibition-era drama or Terrence Malick’s Texas-set romantic triangle drama, follows Hader as a high school reunion committee chairman who was an outsider in high school and is still looking for acceptance from his class. He pursues the attendance of the popular guy from high school, only he’s now a commercial actor, so Hader’s character travels to Los Angeles and gets entangled in the crazy world of Hollywood. A summer production in Atlanta is scheduled.

Hader has been an SNL cast member since 2005, and is probably most known for his outrageous New York tour guide Stefon, who appears on the sketch comedy’s popular Weekend Updates segments. On film he’s made cameos and had bit parts in films like “This is 40″ and “Men in Black 3″, in which he played Andy Warhol, and he recently filmed companion pieces “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His” and “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers” with James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. He’s also part of the upcoming voice cast for animated film “Turbo.”

Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass Have a “Reawakening” in Medical Thriller

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

“Jiro Dreams of Sushi” director David Gelb is set to direct Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass in medical thriller “Reawakening”, according to Variety.

Wilde and Duplass will play two of a group of medical research students who discover a way to bring subjects back from the dead – but of course with sinister consequences. The project is described is having “Frankenstein” themes but with a twist, and sounds to me like Stephen King’s “Pet Semetary” may be an influencer as well.

Duplass is the indie scene multi-hyphenate and mumblcore staple whose latest films behind the camera were “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” and “The Do-Deca-Pentathlon” and who has branched out to acting in more mainstream films such as “People Like Us” (also co-starring Wilde) and “Zero Dark Thirty.” Wilde, one of the busiest young actresses in Hollywood, was last seen in magician comedy “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” opposite Steve Carell and has Ron Howard’s “Rush” out later this year opposite Chris Hemsworth. She recently wrapped up shooting “Third Person” opposite Liam Neeson.

Hailee Steinfeld Joins Sam Worthington in Revenge Thriller “For the Dogs”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

haileesteinfeld Hailee Steinfeld is really mastering the art of the revenge thriller. The “True Grit” star will join Sam Worthington in yet another similarly themed tale, “For the Dogs”, according to Deadline.

Worthington plays an assassin who gets talked into helping a precocious teenager (Steinfeld) seek revenge on the criminals who murdered her parents and younger brother: “His guidance unleashes events that ultimately stoke her thirst for vengeance while he desperately seeks peace and absolution.” Phillip Noyce will direct.

Steinfeld’s also got “Three Days to Kill” and “Barely Lethal” in the same vein of assassin/revenge thrillers, and as one of our Faces to Watch in 2013, she’s got “Ender’s Game”, Carlo Carlei’s “Romeo and Juliet”, musical drama “Can a Song Save Your Life?” and romantic comedy “Hateship, friendship” awaiting release.

“Shameless” Star Jeremy Allen White Lands Found Footage Thriller “Glimmer”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

jeremy-allen-white Hot found-footage thriller project “Glimmer” has found its first star in “Shameless” star Jeremy Allen White, according to The Wrap. Ringan Ledwidge is directing the Carter Blanchard script which landed in the Top 10 of the 2012 Black List.

The time-travel thriller centers around a group of teens who take a camping trip to investigate a series of missing persons, only to find a portal that can take them back in time instead. They travel to and are ultimately trapped in the 1970s, where one of them changes something, with – naturally – catastrophic results. Found-footage has been done, but this one has potential to be a breakout hit in the vein of “Chronicle”, which of course gave us such talents as Dane DeHaan and Michael B. Jordan.

White has played rebellious sibling Lip Gallagher on Showtime’s family drama “Shameless” since the series began in 2011, and it’s now heading into its fourth season. He’s the latest among the Gallagher kids to land big movie roles, with Cameron Monaghan landing a role in “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters” just last week.

Matthias Schoenaerts and Noomi Rapace Are “Alive Alone”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

alive-alone European turned Hollywood movie stars Matthias Schoenaerts and Noomi Rapace have been set to star in thriller “Alive Alone”, which is being packaged to sell at Cannes this week, reports Deadline.

Khurram Longi will make his directing debut on the film which focuses on the relationship between Schoenaerts’ ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee and Rapace as a young woman on the run from a crime boss. The “Animal Rescue” co-stars are taking over roles that back in 2009 had been earmarked for Samantha Morton and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Longi also wrote the script, which landed on both the Black List and the UK-based Brit List of best unproduced screenplays.

Schoenaerts and Rapace are currently filming New York-set crime thriller “Animal Rescue” together opposite Tom Hardy. Rapace will next also star with Hardy in spy drama “Child 44.” She, of course, broke out stateside in the original Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and has since starred in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” and “Prometheus.” Schoenaerts broke out starring opposite Marion Cotillard in last year’s Oscar contender “Rust and Bone” and has also landed a string of English roles, with roles in “Suite Francaise” opposite Michelle Williams, “A Little Chaos” opposite Kate Winslet and maybe “Far From the Madding Crowd” with Carey Mulligan coming up.

Elle Fanning in Indie Drama “Low Down”; First Set Photos Revealed

May 10, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting, Images Leave a comment

lowdownsm Here’s one that appears to have slipped through the cracks. THR reported today that Elle Fanning has been cast opposite John Hawkes in indie drama “Low Down”, along with supporting actors including Taryn Manning, Peter Dinklage, Glenn Close and musican Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it appears filming is already underway, as we already have the first set photos of Fanning.

Jeff Preiss is directing the true life biopic in Los Angeles which follows Hawkes as Joe Albany, a gifted jazz pianist who played with iconic musicians like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis but who struggled with heroin addiction. The story of his rocky life will be told through the eyes of his daughter (Fanning). Manning plays a struggling actress and fellow junkie, and there’s no word yet on who the other actors play, though Dinklage appears in some of the photos with Fanning obtained by Celebrity Gossip so he appears to be a neighbor of the father-daughter duo.

See a couple of photos of Fanning below, dressed in what appears to be 1970s’ garb, filming a scene on a fire escape and head over to Celebrity Gossip for more, including shots of Dinkage’s scene.

Cameron Monaghan Enrolls at “Vampire Academy” as Mason Ashford; Ashley Charles, Sami Gayle Also In

May 10, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 6 Comments

cameron-monaghan UPDATE: Deadline now reports Sami Gayle, Claire Foy an Ashley Charles have also joined the cast, with Gayle in the role of antagonist Mia, Charles as Jesse and Foy as Karp.

“Shameless” star Cameron Monaghan is the latest young actor to get in on the YA franchise game, with the official Twitter for the film announcing that he has been cast as Mason Ashford in “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters.” He joins previously cast stars Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky and Olga Kurylenko in the supernatural romance that begins filming on May 27th.

Mark Waters is directing the film adapted from the Richelle Mead series by his brother. Deutch’s Rose is a dhampir, or half-vampire trained to protect Moroi, a race of peaceful, benevolent and mortal vampires from the Strigoi – evil, undead vampires pop culture is probably more familiar with. She plays bodyguard to her best friend Lissa, who is a Moroi princess. They have fled St. Vladimir’s Academy (the titular Vampire Academy where vampires and half-vampires train and learn to find their place in the world) but are forced to return, and that is when they encounter dhampir Dimitri (Kovlovsky), who becomes Rose’s instructor and, naturally, her love interest. Kurlyenko plays the school’s headmistress and Monaghan’s Mason is Rose’s best friend and fellow dhampir, who naturally also carries a torch for her. There is franchise potential here, as Mead has written six books following Rose, and there is also a spinoff series for a character introduced later in the series.

“Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters” will be released on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2014, where it will go head to head against another young adult novel adaptation, Wes Ball’s “The Maze Runner”, based on the books by James Dashner.

Most known as Ian Gallagher on Showtime’s hit family drama “Shameless”, Monaghan also appeared in Disney’s ensemble comedy “Prom” and recently wrapped up filming on indie adaptation “Jamie Marks is Dead.”

Oscar Isaac to Play Drug Kingpin Pablo Escobar in Untitled Biopic

May 10, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

oscar-isaac Increasingly in-demand rising star Oscar Isaac will play Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in a new film directed by Brad Furman, according to Deadline.

From a black list script by Matt Aldrich, Furman and Isaac will tell the story of Escobar, who rose from meager beginnings as one of seven children of a farmer and a school teacher to one of the richest and most murderous drug lords in history. No word on how expansive this biopic will be, but producer Scott Steindorff described it as “a cross between The Godfather and a war movie, capturing the complexity of the man while showing the violent lifestyle.” Naturally, it’s not the only Escobar story in the works. A fictional account of the drug lord, revolving around an Irish surfer who meets him and falls for his niece, is in the works with Josh Hutcherson and Brady Corbet starring and Benecio Del Toro as Escobar.

Isaac is one of our Faces to Watch in 2013 and clearly for very good reason. His higheset profile role yet in the Coen Brothers “Inside Llewyn Davis” will premiere at Cannes next week and was recently set for an awards-friendly December 6th release. Also completed are thriller “Two Faces of January” with Viggo Mortensen and period drama “Therese” with Elizabeth Olsen, and still to film are indies “Mojave” with Jason Clarke, “Memorial Day” with Max Minghella and “Ex-Machina” with “Anna Karenina” stars Domnhall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander.

Ansel Elgort Is Augustus Waters in “The Fault in Our Stars” Opposite Shailene Woodley

May 10, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

ansel-elgort From siblings to star-crossed lovers! EW reports rising star Ansel Elgort has been offered the male lead in “The Fault in Our Stars” opposite Shailene Woodley – who plays his sister in the currently-filming dystopian adaptation “Divergent.”

The two will play a pair of teen cancer survivors who meet in a support group and fall in love, with the knowledge that their time together may be fleeting. It’s been done before, but John Green’s novel really was something special, and the film has been eagerly anticipated by his legion of fans. The author seems enthusiastic about the casting, telling EW “Ansel is whip-smart and uber-charismatic and everything I dreamed for Augustus Waters… I am by nature a cautious pessimist, but I’ll just say it: Now that we have Shailene and Ansel, I am completely, unreservedly psyched about this movie.”

Director Josh Boone also seems unreservedly psyched: ““Ansel Elgort is the epitome of the boy John Green brought to life so vividly in his novel and he truly embodies the character traits we admire so much about Gus. His humor, sensitivity, honesty and confidence floored us. Watching him with Shailene was like seeing the film for the first time. Hearing then say okay to each other was incredibly moving. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have found our Gus.”

Filming on the teen weeper will begin in August, after Woodley and Elgort wrap “Divergent.” In the film he plays Caleb Prior, brother to Woodley’s heroine Tris. Just out of high school, Elgort made his professional acting debut on the Off-Broadway play “Regrets” and almost immediately followed it up with landing a major supporting role in Kimberly Pierce’s upcoming “Carrie” remake opposite Chloe Moretz. Then came “Divergent”, and now “The Fault in Our Stars”, and we will most definitely be keeping our eye on this skyrocketing career.

Page 4 of 143« First «...2 345 6...10 20 30...»Last »