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

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 Read more

Dylan O'Brien Lands "The Maze Runner" Lead; Ki Hong Lee Also Joins

UPDATE: Director Wes Ball tweets that Ki Hong Lee has also joined the cast as Minho, a fellow Glader and ally to Thomas throughout the series. Lee is probably best known as a regular on short-lived ABC Family Read more

Shailene Woodley Confirmed for "The Fault in Our Stars"

I mean, duh, we called it. It has now been officially confirmed with glowing quotes from director, producer and author in tow that the increasingly in demand Shailene Woodley will play the lead role of Hazel Grace Lancaster Read more

Up and Comers Presents: 20 Faces to Watch in 2013

After a somewhat unpredictable year in which the stars we expected to break out largely didn't but fresh faces came out of nowhere to surprise us all, we are ready to look ahead to the new talent waiting to Read more

Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2012

Another year, another new crop of fresh talent. Just like last year, the hardest part is narrowing down which of the dozens of the year's rising stars shone the brightest. This year we heralded the arrival of the unlikeliest Read more
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albert hughes

Amber Heard wins coveted female lead in “Motor City” opposite Dominic Cooper

November 21, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Could the early cancellation of NBC’s “The Playboy Club” have been a blessing in disguise? We definitely think so, as it has freed up head Bunny – and one of our favorite up and comers – Amber Heard to do more movies, and right off the bat she has landed a highly coveted, high profile role. Deadline reports Heard has landed the female lead in Warner Bros’ ambitious revenge thriller “Motor City” opoosite leading man Dominic Cooper, after testing for the role against several other young actresses.

Cooper will star as a sort of modern day Count of Monte Cristo, a small time crook who is framed for a crime and sent to prison and seeks revenge on those who set him up upon his release. The innovative and ambitious aspect of “Motor City”, a 2009 Black List script from Chad St John, is that it is virtually dialogue-free, containing only one spoken line throughout its feature length story. Albert Hughes will direct. It was Cooper’s revelatory double role as Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia in Sundance hit “The Devil’s Double” that made producer Joel Silver ultimately decide on him. It’s quite a coup for the young actor, after names like Evans, Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Renner were previously reported to be in consideration for the part.

Heard is coming off a string of horror duds – “The Stepfather”, “And Soon the Darkness”, “The Ward” – but turned some heads when she starred opposite Johnny Depp in the long-gestating adaptation of “The Rum Diary”, based on the Hunter S. Thompson classic. “Motor City” is quite the get for the promising actress, and we’re just glad she’s free to do such ambitious and interesting work now that she’s not shackled to primetime television anymore. Thanks, NBC!

“Akira” officially a go; Garrett Hedlund front-runner for lead

October 19, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

It’s been quite a roller coaster for Warner Bros’ ambitious big budget adaptation of iconic Japanese manga “Akira”, and it looks like the journey is not over, as perhaps many fans had hoped. The production began casting a net for young actors as potential leads in March, then the studio apparently got nervous with the lack of star power and offered it to Keanu Reeves… who promptly turned it down. Director Albert Hughes then vacated the chair, and in July “Unknown” helmer Jaume Collet-Serra stepped in, but whether the project would ever get off the ground was still very much in doubt, due in part to its high $100+ million budget. But now it appears the studio is keen to get the project going once and for all, as Variety reports it has been officially greenlit, with a trimmed down $90 million budget and a front-runner for the lead role in rising star Garrett Hedlund.

In Japan, “Akira” was set in a post-apocalypric Neo-Toyko, but this new Americanized adaptation will take place in New-Manhattan, “where a leader of a biker gang saves his friend from a medical experiment.” Hedlund, who was said to be in the running for the role of carefree gang-leader Kanedu back in March, does not have an offer on the table yet, but both studio and director are keen on him and something official should be imminent. There is no word on who might play his best friend Tetsuo. Could it also be someone from the March shortlist, which included Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy? Decisions should start happening soon as the pre-production process has been fast-tracked in preparation for a rapidly approaching March 2012 shoot.

Hedlund is no stranger to long-gestating, controversial films and iconic characters. Not only did he play son of Jeff Bridges’ ultimate nerd icon Kevin Flynn in 2010′s years-in-the-making “Tron: Legacy”, a sequel to the 1982 classic, he also has Walter Salles’ decades-in-the-making adaptation of “On the Road” coming up. That, of course, is based on the Jack Kerouac classic that many people believe simply can’t be adapted for the screen, and he’ll play Dean Moriarity, based on legendary Beat generation icon Neal Cassady. Sounds like “Akira” could be right up Hedlund’s alley.

Dominic Cooper heading to “Motor City” with director Albert Hughes

September 28, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

British rising star Dominic Cooper – not his “Captain America” co-star Chris Evans – will be headlining Warner Bros’ ambitious revenge thriller “Motor City” for director Albert Hughes, reports Variety. The trade further reports it was Cooper’s revelatory double role as Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia in Sundance hit “The Devil’s Double” that made producer Joel Silver ultimately decide on him. It’s quite a coup for the young actor, after names like Evans, Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Renner were previously reported to be in consideration for the part.

Cooper will star as a sort of modern day Count of Monte Cristo, a small time crook who is framed for a crime and sent to prison and seeks revenge on those who set him up upon his release. The innovative and ambitious aspect of “Motor City”, a 2009 Black List script from Chad St John, is that it is virtually dialogue-free, containing only one spoken line throughout its feature length story.

Cooper played Iron Man’s father Howard Stark in this summer’s blockbuster “Captain America: The First Avenger” and recently wrapped Timur Bekmambetov’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” He’ll next be seen as famed Monroe photographer Milton H. Greene in Simon Curtis’ “My Week with Marilyn”, which is already garnering positive buzz ahead of its premiere at the New York Film Festival next week.

Chris Evans offered lead in ambitious dialogue-free revenge thriller “Motor City”

August 2, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Now that Chris Evans’ star has risen considerably after the monster success of “Captain America: The First Avenger”, it’s no surprise that producers think he’s ready to capitalize on his fame to get risky projects greenlit by money-conscious studios. TwitchFilm are reporting Evans has been offered the lead role in Warner Bros’ revenge thriller “Motor City”, a 2009 Black List feature length script from Chad St John that features only one line of dialogue.

The film will see Evans as a sort of modern day Count of Monte Cristo, a small time crook who is framed for a crime and sent to prison and seeks revenge on those who set him up upon his release. While previous attempts to mount minimal dialogue films – most famously a Coen Brothers/Brad Pitt collaboration set during WWII – have failed to get off the ground, super producer Joel Silver reportedly believes that Evans now has the star power to pull off such an ambitious project. While Evans has not yet accepted the offer – and familiar names like Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Renner are on the list should Evans say no – director Albert Hughes, formerly attached to Warner Bros’ even more ambitious and now dead in the water “Akira” remake, is firmly on board.

Evans failed to ignite as a Marvel superhero back in 2005 when he played The Human Torch in “Fantastic Four”, but he’s definitely making his mark now as a pitch-perfect Steve Rogers aka Captain America, currently reprising the role for Joss Whedon’s all-star team-up “The Avengers” in New Mexico. He’ll next be seen opposite Anna Faris in rom-com “What’s Your Number?” and remains on the shortlist for Doug Liman’s “Luna”.