Jessica Chastain Reunites with Emma Stone for Guillermo Del Toro’s “Crimson Peak”

April 5, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

jessica-chastain Guillermo Del Toro continues to assemble an incredibly impressive young cast for his haunted house horror flick “Crimson Peak”, with Variety reporting Jessica Chastain is the latest to move in, joining the previously announced Emma Stone, Charlie Hunnam and Benedict Cumberbatch.

There are no plot details available other than to say it involves a haunted house, but with Del Toro and this cast, who needs ‘em, really? Del Toro and Lucinda Coxon are working on a rewrite of the script which he first co-wrote with Matthew Robins. With such a hot cast, all busy with other projects for the foreseeable future, filming on “Crimson Peak” isn’t expected to begin until February of 2014.

Chastain, who first starred alongside Stone in 2011′s massive hit “The Help”, earned her first Oscar nomination for that film and then her second one this year for “Zero Dark Thirty.” She’s also worked with Del Toro before, as he produced January’s surprise horror hit “Mama.” She’s sought after for the role of Jane in David Yates’ new adaptation of “Tarzan”, but negotiations on that are ongoing and nowhere near finalized yet. In the meantime she’s committed to her first and only role since her second Oscar nomination, an adaptation of the August Strindberg play “Miss Julie” opposite Colin Farrell that Liv Ullman will direct.

Benedict Cumberbatch enters the haunted house with Emma Stone for horror film “Crimson Peak”

April 4, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

Guillermo del Toro has already cast Emma Stone and Charlie Hunnam in his upcoming haunted house horror film “Crimson Peak“, and now he’s found another actor looking to try a new genre. Fast rising British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has joined the pic, surely making him one of the most in-demand British actors in Hollywood at the moment.

Variety reports that the film is set to start shooting early in 2014 and there’s still no word on plot details. Del Toro and Matthew Robbins‘ original script is currently going through a rewrite by Lucinda Coxon.

The star of BBC’S “Sherlock” series for which he is currently filming a third season, Cumberbatch will play the still-unnamed villian of this summer’s “Star Trek Into Darkness”, one of his first major high profile roles for international audiences. Earlier this year he filmed Bill Condon’s biopic “The Fifth Estate“, which also stars Anthony Mackie, Daniel Bruhl and Alica Vikander, and is based on two books which tell the tale of the Wikileaks team founder Julian Assange. He is also in talks to star in an adaptation of “The Turing Game”, a biopic of the tortured WWII genius.

Benedict Cumberbatch may play Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game”, taking over for Leonardo Dicaprio

February 1, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Is Benedict Cumberbatch the new Leonardo Dicaprio? Seems like an odd fit, but in fact it is Cumberbatch who will be taking over a high profile role that had once been earmarked for the former teen idol turned respected dramatic actor. Deadline reports Cumberbatch is in deep negotiations to play Alan Turing in “Headhunters” helmer Morten Tyldum’s adaptation of “The Turing Game”, a biopic of the tortured WWII genius.

The British mathematician Turing helped the Allies defeat the Germans by cracking the enemy’s “Enigma Code” during WWII, but a decade later was prosecuted by his own government for being a homosexual. Other than take a prison sentence, he chose chemical castration, an act that would lead him into the pits of depression and ultimately suicide. The film is fully financed but has no studio backing just yet, but Deadline speculates it won’t take long before Oscar-hungry executives bite on distribution rights.

Benedict, the acclaimed star of BBC’s “Sherlock”, will have a hell of a year on the big screen in 2013. He recently wrapped up the villain role in JJ Abrams’ sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness” and will play ‘Little’ Charles Aiken opposite Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County”, and he also has a role in Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years a Slave” opposite Michael Fassbender. He’s currently filming Bill Condon’s “The Fifth Estate”, the Wikileaks origin tale in which he portrays founder Julian Assange.

Anthony Mackie joins Bill Condon’s Wikileaks movie, now titled “The Fifth Estate”; first image released

January 22, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting, Images 2 Comments

UPDATED: The first official image from the film has been added.

Well this movie just keeps getting better and better. In a press release today announcing the start of principal photography on “The Fifth Estate”, the previously untitled Wikileaks movie directed by Bill Condon, it’s revealed that Anthony Mackie has joined the cast that already boasts Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Alicia Vikander.

Cumberbatch will play Julian Assange and Bruhl his one-time right hand man, Daniel Domscheit-Berg. The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Vikander will play a co-worker and eventual love interest to Bruhl’s charcter, while “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens will play a hacker friend of Domscheit-Berg’s who eventually comes to work with the Wikileaks team. There’s no word on who other cast members including Mackie, Laura Linney, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, and Carice van Houten will play. “The Fifth Estate” has also just been set for a November 15, 2013 release.

Mackie will film this first before heading to Cleveland in April to play the Falcon opposite Chris Evans, who reprises his role as Steve Rogers in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” The two also recently wrapped up filming on “A Many Splintered Thing” together. Mackie is currently on screen in “Gangster Squad” opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and will next be seen opposite Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain.”

Meanwhile, the first official image featuring Cumberbatch and Bruhl has been released and can be viewed below.

“Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens joins Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film opposite Benedict Cumberbatch

December 19, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Team Wikileaks adds another member as Variety reports “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens is the latest cast member to join Bill Condon’s untitled film about the founding of the whistleblower website and its controversial leader, Julian Assange. British rising star Benedict Cumberbatch is on board to play Assange, with German actor Daniel Bruhl as Assange’s onetime right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg and Alicia Vikander as a co-worker and love interest to Bruhl’s character.

The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Stevens will play a hacker friend of Domscheit-Berg’s who eventually comes to work with the Wikileaks team. Filming is scheduled to begin in January.

Stevens, who plays the key role of Matthew Crawley on hit series “Downton Abbey”, is currently starring opposite Jessica Chastain on Broadway in “The Heiress”. He has declined to return to the show that has made him a star in its fourth season, and will be seen next year on the big screen in period romantic drama “Summer in February” opposite Emily Browning and Dominic Cooper.

Alicia Vikander joins Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film opposite Benedict Cumberbatch

December 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Bill Condon continues to build an impressive cast for his still untitled film about the founding of Wikileaks and its controversial leader, Julian Assange. With British actor Benedict Cumberbatch set as Assange and German actor Daniel Bruhl as his right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Variety now reports Swedish rising star Alicia Vikander has joined the cast as well.

The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Vikander will play a co-worker and eventual love interest of Domscheit-Berg’s. Production is aiming for a January start.

Vikander first caught our attention back in 2010 when she was shortlisted for “Snow White and the Huntsman”, and has since proven on screen what filmmakers initially saw in the unknown actress. This year she puts in two awards-worthy performances, in Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” and the Danish Foreign-Language Oscar entry “A Royal Affair” and she’ll get her first crack at studio fare when she stars opposite Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore in next year’s “The Seventh Son.” She also may get a chance to play a fairy tale princess after all as she is one of three contenders Mark Romanek is considering to be his “Cinderella.”

Watch: First teaser trailer for “Star Trek Into Darkness”

December 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 2 Comments

The gang’s all back in our first look at some intense footage from JJ Abrams’ highly anticipated sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness.” New villain Benedict Cumberbatch narrates this welcome-back for the crew of the Enterprise, including Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, John Cho as Sulu and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Amongst the explosions, volcanic and sea battles, we also have our first look at new addition Alice Eve, who plays an as yet unnamed member of Kirk’s crew.

“Star Trek into Darkness” will be released on May 17, 2013. See the first one-minute trailer – which is a preview of a longer, two-minute trailer that will debut on December 17th – below, as well as the official synopsis for the movie.

Shades of villainy color new posters for “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Man of Steel”

December 3, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

We can all thank Christopher Nolan and his billion dollar Batman trilogy for this, I think. Two new posters have debuted for two of 2013′s most anticipated summer blockbusters, and both paint a rather dark and bleak vision of their respective worlds.

In JJ Abrams’ “Star Trek into Darkness”, the sequel to 2009′s critical and commercial hit reboot “Star Trek”, the entire crew of the Enterprise will return, including Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhuru, John Cho as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. The first teaser poster for the sequel sees a very Nolan-esque villain (presumably franchise newcomer Benedict Cumberbatch) standing over a pile of debris and a metropolis in utter ruins. Even the film’s title treatment emphasizes that it will indeed be going Into Darkness when it’s released on May 17th, 2013.

Meanwhile, we already knew Zack Snyder’s Superman redo “Man of Steel” was going dark and gritty thanks to a pair of early teaser trailers, but the new poster puts Henry Cavill’s Caped Crusader into a situation we haven’t seen before: in handcuffs and escorted by police. So Clark Kent is going to be a burly bearded fisherman at one point but could the traditionally nerdy reporter be going full blown anti-hero in Snyder’s vision? The film also stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Kevin Costner as Clark’s earthly adoptive father, and will be released on June 14th, 2013.

See the new posters for two of our most anticipated blockbusters of next summer below.

Daniel Bruhl replaces James McAvoy in Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film, joining Benedict Cumberbatch

November 28, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Though he had been in negotiations for Bill Condon’s Wikileaks origin tale, James McAvoy won’t be able to play Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange’s right hand man after all. He’s set to play Charles Xavier in Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” early next year, just as Condon’s film begins shooting. Instead, THR reports, German actor Daniel Bruhl is now finalizing a deal to play Daniel Domscheit-Berg.

The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Production is being fast-tracked and aiming for a January start.

Bruhl caught the attention of Hollywood following a turn opposite Melanie Laurent in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar nominated “Inglourious Basterds” and recently wrapped up shooting Ron Howard’s Formula One racing biopic “Rush”, in which he played legendary racer Niki Lauda opposite Chris Hemsworth, who played James Hunt, as well as John Le Carre adaptation “A Most Wanted Man” opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams.

James McAvoy joining Benedict Cumberbatch in Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film

November 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Benedict Cumberbatch is set to play Julian Assange and James McAvoy is in talks to play his right hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg in Bill Condon’s untitled film about the founding of Wikileaks, reports Variety. “The Killing” star and new Robocop Joel Kinnaman had been rumored for the role of Domscheit-Berg earlier, but McAvoy is the one who’s getting the part.

Dreamworks is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Meanwhile, other filmmakers and even Assange himself remain at work on their own retellings of the formation of the whistleblowing organization, but it looks like Dreamworks has the edge by being the first. Filming is slated for next year, and will work around McAvoy’s “X-Men” sequel schedule.

McAvoy will reprise his role as Professor Xavier in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”, recently confirmed to be directed by original “X-Men” director Bryan Singer. He also recently wrapped up filming on a pair of films, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him” and “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her” opposite Jessica Chastain, as well as Danny Boyle’s heist thriller “Trance.”

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