Sarah Gadon to Reunite With Robert Pattinson For David Cronenberg’s “Map to the Stars”

April 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

sarah-gadon The “Cosmopolis” duo of Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon are reuniting, and will star together in their director David Cronenberg’s next feature, “Map to the Stars”, according to Deadline. John Cusack and Julianne Moore have also joined the cast of the LA-set thriller, replacing previously-rumored cast members Viggo Mortensen and Rachel Weisz.

Bruce Wagner wrote the script on the long-gestating project, which involves Hollywood characters like actors, agents and managers, but beyond that there’s very little plot details, though both Cronenberg and Pattinson have used words like weird and absurd to describe the tone of the piece. It will also be Canadian director Cronenberg’s first time shooting in the US, Los Angeles, specifically. No word yet on when filming might begin, but the film will be out to buyers next month at Cannes, and with such stars attached, it probably won’t take too long to get funded.

Gadon can surely be considered a Cronenberg regular by now, even more than Pattinson, with this being her third film with David Cronenberg (“Cosmopolis” and Michael Fassbender-Viggo Mortensen period drama “A Dangerous Method” came previously), and she’s also done a movie with his son, Brandon Cronenberg, “Antiviral.” She recently wrapped up filming on thriller “An Enemy” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Melanie Laurent historical drama “Belle” with British thesps Sam Claflin and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Caleb Landry Jones to star in “Hope and Glory” sequel “Queen and Country” for “Broken Dream” director John Boorman

September 11, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

They may not have officially worked together just yet, but director John Boorman and actor Caleb Landry Jones have clearly seen something in each other throughout the audition and pre-preoduction process, and are now looking to do a second movie together, all before they even started shooting on their first one. Variety reports Jones, who landed the lead role in Boorman’s “Broken Dream.”, is now negotiating to also take the lead role in “Queen and Country”, the long gestating sequel to Boorman’s 1987 drama “Hope and Glory.”

“Hope and Glory”, described as semi-autobiographical, followed a young boy, Bill (Sebastian Rice-Edwards), as he grew up in London during WWII. “Queen and Country” will take place a decade later as Bill, now a young man to be played by Jones, is conscripted into the Korean War. Neither “Broken Dream” nor “Queen and Country” have a start date yet, but Variety reports insiders believe “Queen and Country” will actually film first.

Jones, who is most likely going to return to reprise his role as the mutant Banshee in sequel “X-Men: Days of Future Past”, recently repped two movies at the Toronto International Film Festival, Brandon Cronenberg’s “Antiviral” and Neil Jordan’s “Byzantium.”

Sarah Gadon gives Adam Brody “All the Wrong Reasons” in new indie drama

July 10, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Up and coming Canadian actress Sarah Gadon has been set to star opposite Adam Brody in indie drama “All the Wrong Reasons”, according to Variety. Gadon’s “Cosmopolis” co-star Emily Hampshire and Kevin Zegers have also joined the cast. The quartet will play “four friends as they wander around New York City over the course of one eventful day,” with filming set to begin under the direction of Gia Milani later this month in Halifax, Canada.

Gadon’s film career has been on the rise ever since being discovered by acclaimed director David Cronenberg, who cast her in his latest two films, “A Dangerous Method” opposite Michael Fassbender, and the upcoming “Cosmopolis” opposite Robert Pattinson. She also worked for Cronenberg’s son Brandon Cronenberg on his feature directorial debut, “Antiviral.” Both “Antiviral” and “Cosmopolis” premiered at Cannes earlier this year. She recently wrapped up filming on thriller “An Enemy” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Melanie Laurent, and is attached to historical drama “Belle” with British thesps Sam Claflin and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Caleb Landry Jones dreams a “Broken Dream” in role originally slated for River Phoenix

June 22, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Young actors probably all secretly dream of being compared to River Phoenix (or James Dean, or even Heath Ledger) whose untimely death has created a permanent and nearly untouchable image of the late actor as the pinnacle of untapped youthful talent, but to take a role originally meant for Phoenix must be on a whole other level entirely. Deadline reports Caleb Landry Jones will be the one to experience that surreality as he has been cast as the male lead in “Broken Dream”, which director John Boorman wanted to shoot with Phoenix nearly 20 years ago. He’s spent the time since searching for the right actor to take over the role, and it appears he’s finally found it in Jones.

Described as “love story in a futuristic, post-holocaust atomic world,” Phoenix had been slated to star alongside Winona Ryder in 1993, and now the search is on to find a leading lady for Jones. Perhaps the rising actor always had an inside track as the screenwriter who wrote it, all the way back in 1979, is Neil Jordan, who Jones recently wrapped up working with on vampire flick “Byzantium.”

“Byzantium” co-starred Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan and Sam Riley, and Jones also recently appeared at the Cannes Film Festival where he starred in Brandon Cronenberg’s feature debut, “Antiviral” opposite Sarah Gadon. He played Sean Cassidy, the mutant known as Banshee in “X-Men: First Class” and should be expected to return for its sequel, filming early next year.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Claflin and Sarah Gadon to star in historical drama “Belle”

May 15, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

British rising stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Claflin, along with Canadian up and comer Sarah Gadon, will star in historical drama “Belle”, according to Variety. Miranda Richardson, Tom Wilkinson and Matthew Goode will also be part of the ensemble cast.

BAFTA-winning director Amma Asante will direct the film based on the true story about a mixed-race young woman raised as an aristocratic lady in Blighty at the end of the 18th Century. Mbatha-Raw will play the titular Belle while Gadon will play her cousin. The film is out to buyers this week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Mbatha-Raw, one of BAFTA’s Brits to Watch this year, is currently a regular on Fox series “Touch” and can be seen opposite Anton Yelchin in the upcoming “Odd Thomas.” Gadon will be twice represnted at Cannes this year as the star of David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” and Brandon Cronenberg’s “Antiviral.” Claflin was last seen in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and will soon be seen as the Prince in “Snow White and the Huntsman.”

Sarah Gadon and Melanie Laurent join Jake Gyllenhaal in psychological thriller “An Enemy”

May 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer psychological thriller “An Enemy” has added a trio of actresses, according to Deadline. Up and comers Melanie Laurent and Sarah Gadon are joining Isabella Rossellini in the Denis Villeneuve-directed film that will begin shooting next week in Toronto.

Gyllenhaal plays a history teacher living a quiet life with his girlfriend until he stumbles upon a physically identical man living nearby with a pregnant wife. He begins stalking his double until the couples’ lives become intertwined with deadly consequences. Javier Gullón adapted José Saramago’s novel “The Double”, though it appears the adaptation is loose at best.

Laurent broke out in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar nominated “Inglorious Basterds” and was most recently seen opposite Christopher Plummer’s Oscar-winning performance in “Beginners.” She just wrapped up shooting on magician heist thriller “Now You See Me” opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Dave Franco. Gadon was a little known Canadian TV actress until director David Cronenberg gave her a double-hitter of opportunity, first casting her as Michael Fassbender’s wife in “A Dangerous Method” then opposite Robert Pattinson in the Cannes-bound “Cosmopolis.” Gadon will also be in Cannes representing David’s son Brandon Cronenberg’s futuristic sci-fi thriller “Antiviral.”

Full Cannes 2012 Lineup: “Twilight” invasion, Sarah Gadon on double Cronenberg duty and the return of Jessica Chastain

April 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards, General News Leave a comment

The official Cannes Film Festival lineup has finally been unveiled and looks like we can expect a more than usual number of up and coming young actors to head to the French Riviera next month. As expected, teen phenomenon “Twilight” will be well represented with stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart each headlining a Cannes-bound flick for the very first time. Pattinson stars in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo novel “Cosmopolis”, while Stewart plays a supporting role in Walter Salles’ long-gestating, highly anticipated adaptation of Jack Kerouac classic “On the Road.” Also perhaps hoping to shed that teen idol image and gain some serious acting cred at the festival is former “High School Musical” star Zac Efron, who stars in Lee Daniels’ “The Paperboy.” Daniels’ “Precious” played Un Certain Regard two years ago and went on to earn a boatload of Oscar nominations.

“Cosmopolis”, “On the Road” and “The Paperboy” will all play in competition and will be eligible for awards at the end of the festival. “On the Road” will also bring to Cannes promising young talents Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund, as well as a return for last year’s Best Actress winner Kirsten Dunst.

Meanwhile, Pattinson’s “Cosomopolis” co-star Sarah Gadon, also a first-timer, will represent not one but two Cronenbergs a the festival. In addition to “Cosmopolis”, she is also the star of David’s son Brandon Cronenberg’s first feature, the futuristic sci-fi thriller “Antiviral”, accepted into the Un Certain Regard lineup for this year. “Antiviral” co-stars “X-Men: First Class”‘s Caleb Landry Jones.

Also pulling double duty this year is returning vet Jessica Chastain, who wowed with her performance in the Palm d’Or winner “The Tree of Life” last year. She returns this year as an Oscar nominee touting two films, the animated “Madagascar 3″ and John Hillcoat’s Prohibition-era drama “Lawless” (previously titled “The Wettest County in the World”, and not to be confused with Terrence Malick’s next feature). “Lawless” also stars Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and recent “Chronicle” breakout star Dane DeHaan.

Other up and comers we’ll be keeping an eye on include Bella Heathcote in Andrew Dominik’s “Killing Them Softly”, Michael Shannon’s reunion with “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols on “Mud”, and Sundance breakout star Quvenzhané Wallis of “The Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

We here at Up and Comers will be at Cannes for the very first time this year too, so expect news, reviews and exclusives straight from the Croisette!

See the full line-up of films below.

Douglas Smith joins Logan Lerman and Jake Abel in “Percy Jackson” sequel

February 16, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 2 Comments

Despite lackluster box office returns for the first film, Fox 2000 are continuing with their Percy Jackson franchise.

The first flick “Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief“, based on the book by Rick Riordan, was released in 2010 and starred Logan Lerman as Jackson, a teenager who discovers he’s the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods.

Also starring Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson and Jake Abel, the second film, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters” sees Jackson and his friends head into the Sea of Monsters to find the mythical Golden Fleece.

Variety reports that Douglas Smith, star of TV’s “Big Love”, has joined the cast although no word yet on who, or what, he might be playing.

Smith is a relative unknown to Hollywood audiences. The young actor played a young Brendon Fraser in 1999′s “Blast From The Past” and then various bit roles on TV shows. In the next year, the 26 year old has the sci-fi thriller “Antiviral” with Sarah Gadon and Caleb Landry Jones, and the amusingly-titled “The Boy Who Smells Like Fish“, alongside Zoe Kravitz.

First Look: Caleb Landry Jones in first still from Brandon Cronenberg’s “Antiviral”

December 6, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 1 Comment

“X-Men: First Class” star Caleb Landry Jones is going from eager mutant in training to smarmy salesman in our first look at futuristic sci-fi thriller “Antiviral”, directed by Brandon Cronenberg (son of David). Cronenberg family favorite Sarah Gadon will co-star in the currently filming project, along with Malcolm McDowell, Douglas Smith, Matt Watts and James Cade.

Jones will star as a salesman who works for a clinic that has mastered the art of replicating celebrity diseases and sells them for public consumption. Jones’ character becomes obsessed with one celebrity in particular and injects himself with her disease, only to have to race to find a cure before it kills him. Twitch Film have the first image from the film, showing Jones eyeing some root-like organisms growing inside makeshift test tubes, presumably where celebrity diseases are being formulated.

See the first image below. There is no release date set yet for “Anitiviral.”

“X-Men: First Class” star Caleb Landry Jones gets infected with celebrity “Antiviral”

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

Caleb Landry Jones will be headlining indie thriller “Antiviral”, reports Variety. Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, wrote the screenplay and will direct the sci-fi tale which, to be honest, doesn’t make much sense to us.

Jones will star as a salesman who works for a clinic that has mastered the art of replicating celebrity diseases and sells them for public consumption. Jones’ character becomes obsessed with one celebrity in particular and injects himself with her disease, only to have to race to find a cure before it kills him. All together now: Huh?? With filming set to begin this month in Toronto, hopefully more clarifying details will emerge about that head-scratcher of a plot description.

Since breaking out as Sean Cassidy aka Banshee in this summer’s “X-Men: First Class”, Jones’ star has been steadily on the rise. He was shortlisted for Warner Bros fantasy epic “The Seventh Son” and then landed the male lead in Gemma Arterton-Saoirse Ronan vampire tale “Byzantium” for director Neil Jordan. He will transition into filming “Byzantium” immediately upon completion of “Antiviral.”

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