Lee Daniels wants David Oyelowo to be “The Butler” in political biopic; Mila Kunis approached to play Jackie Kennedy

February 15, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

British actor David Oyelowo’s conquering of Hollywood continues, as THR reports “Precious” director Lee Daniels is interested in his “The Paperboy” star to take on the titular role in “The Butler”, a biopic about Eugene Allen, the black butler that served eight presidents in the White House from 1952 to 1986. THR further reports that Daniels is assembling a hell of a supporting cast with the likes of Mila Kunis, John Cusack, Hugh Jackman and even Oprah Winfrey being offered roles of real life American historical figures.

Based on Wil Haygood’s 2008 Washington Post story “A Butler Well Served by This Election”, the story will follow Allen as he goes from an entry level “pantry man” in pre-Civil Rights 1952 to serving eight presidents over 30 years and witnessing firsthand such historical events as the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. THR reports Kunis has been offered the role of Jackie Kennedy, Cusack President Richard Nixon and Winfrey Allen’s wife. Financing and scheduling are still being shuffled around and as we know from Daniels’ past projects, the cast could look totally different by the time cameras roll, but it’s certainly an inspired grouping as is.

Michael Stahl-David and Zoe Kazan lead sci-fi romance “In Your Eyes”

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

Michael Stahl-David and Zoe Kazan have landed the lead roles in Joss Whedon scripted indie sci-fi romance “In Your Eyes”, reports Deadline.

Described as “a metaphysical love story about two seemingly polar opposites who are deeply connected in ways neither could have ever imagined”, Stahl-David plays Dylan, an ex-con living in a trailer in New Mexico while Kazan’s Rebecca is an awkward young woman married to a much older doctor in Connecticut. Though they’ve never met, the two can see and hear each other. Brin Hill will begin directing the film soon in Los Angeles.

Kazan is a staple on the indie scene, having appeared in films such as “Revolutionary Road”, “happythankyoumoreplease” and “Meek’s Cutoff”, and she recently wrapped up filming on “He Loves Me”, in which she stars opposite Paul Dano and which she also co-wrote. Stahl-David got his big break as the lead in JJ Abrams’ “Cloverfield” and recently appeared on TV shows including “My Generation” and “Person of Interest.”

“Shame” star Nicole Beharie to play Mrs. Jackie Robinson in biopic “42″

February 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Nicole Beharie, who played the one woman who inspired real feelings in Michael Fassbender’s troubled sex addict in Steve McQueen’s cinematic masterpiece “Shame” last year, will be playing the love of baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s life in biopic “42″, according to Deadline. She will be acting opposite relative newcomer Chadwick Boseman, who landed the role of Robinson in December, and Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey.

Brian Helgeland will direct the film, which he wrote in collaboration with Robinson’s widow, Rachel Robinson (a younger version of whom, as Rachel Isum, Beharie will play in the movie). The story follows Robinson, who was the first African American player in Major League baseball. Rickey is credited for breaking the color barrier in the sport of baseball by signing Robinson first to a minor league team in 1945, and then, more famously, to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Beharie had only done two movies prior to her breakout turn in “Shame”, one of which was “The Express”, also starring Boseman, about the first African-American football player, Ernie Davis (played by Rob Brown), to win the Heisman Trophy. She has one more sports-themed movie, “The Last Fall”, awaiting release this year.

Max Mingella will be “Not Safe For Work” in Universal’s low budget thriller alongside Eloise Mumford

February 14, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting Leave a comment

Here’s a new and interesting take on the “killer plus innocent bystander” storyline.

Variety reports that Max Minghella is in talks to star in Universal’s low-budget thriller “Not Safe For Work”, playing “a young paralegal trapped in an office with a killer on a secret mission to destroy files and anyone that stands in his path”. Eloise Mumford will play his girlfriend.

To be directed by Joe Johnston, from a script by Simon Boyes and Adam Mason, the film will be Minghella’s first lead role, after starring with George Clooney in “Syriana” and “The Ides of March”, playing Armie Hammer’s business partner in “The Social Network” and then opposite Emile Hirsch in the poorly-received “The Darkest Hour“.

Mumford, most recognisable for TV roles, is set to star alongside Miley Cyrus in “So Undercover”, out March this year, and is currently filming “Drones”, about the pilots of an unnamed air force done working above the skies in Afghanistan.

Aussie up and comer Rhys Wakefield joins sci-fi thriller “Vigilandia”

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

Australian actor Rhys Wakefield has joined the cast of “Vigilandia”, according to Deadline. Ethan Hawke and “Game of Thrones”‘ Lena Heady had been cast earlier in the sci-fi thriller that began shooting yesterday in Los Angeles. Not much is known about the micro budget thriller, except that it’s futuristic and will be brought to us by writer-director James DeMonaco, and producers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes, the shingle behind recent horror remakes “Friday the 13th” and “A Nightmare on Elm St.”

Wakefield is a veteran of famous Aussie starmking soap “Neighbours” and recently appeared in James Cameron’s “Sanctum.” His upcoming projects include indies like recent Sundance premiere “Nobody Walks” with John Krasinski and Olivia Thirlby, and “The Philosophers” with fellow risings stars Sophie Lowe, George Blagden and “Harry Potter”‘s Bonnie Wright.

Evan Rachel Wood joins Shia Labeouf in “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman”

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

Zac Efron is out, Shia Labeouf is back in, and now he’s got a couple of co-stars in “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.” Variety reports Mads Mikkelsen and Evan Rachel Wood are joining Labeouf on the long-gestating project that may finally roll before cameras soon under the direction of Fredrik Bond.

Labeouf plays Charlie, an American suburban kid who travels to Eastern Europe to find himself, only to find Wood’s lovely Hungarian girl Gabi instead. Charlie falls for Gabi after her father dies on a plane next to him. Mikkelsen will do what he does best: play the menacing villain role as Gabi’s estranged husband, who will stop at nothing to keep the young lovers apart. An early official synopsis read: “Armed with little more than his wit and naïve charm, Charlie endures one bruising beat down after another to woo Gabi and keep her out of harm’s way. Finally his exploits of blind valor create such a mess that he’s left with only one way out; to save the girl of his dreams, must Charlie Countryman die?”

Wood, currently filming “A Case of You” opposite Justin Long, was recently seen in George Clooney’s political thriller “The Ides of March.” She may reunite with director Catherine Hardwicke – who discovered her and made a star out of her in “Thirteen” – on erotic thriller “Plush.”

Dominic Cooper replaces Clive Owen in “Cities”, may leave “Motor City” behind

February 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Looks like conquering “Motor City” just isn’t enough for Dominc Cooper, who’s setting his sights on something more global, as Variety reports the busy and rising actor has replaced Clive Owen in international thriller “Cities”. The new casting could call into question Cooper’s previous commitment to “Motor City”, the ambitious dialogue-free revenge thriller he was slated to star in opposite Amber Heard.

Cooper will join Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst and Anil Kapoor in “Cities” for director Roger Donaldson, which will tell “stories of characters around the globe, including a New York hedge fund manager, a Mumbai police officer and a couple who are house-hunting in London” in the months leading up to the Dow Jones stock market high. Filming will begin this spring in London, Mumbai and New York.

Cooper is currently filming romantic drama “Summer in February” with Emily Browning and appeared in several of 2011′s biggest movies, including superhero blockbuster “Captain America: The First Avenger”, Sundance hit “The Devil’s Double” and current awards contender “My Week with Marilyn.” He’ll next be seen as Abe’s vampire mentor Henry Sturgess in “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, which just released a pretty epic first trailer.

Lou Taylor Pucci joins Shiloh Fernandez and Jane Levy in fighting off “The Evil Dead”

February 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

“Evil Dead” is slowly but surely rounding up its five victims. Variety reports Lou Taylor Pucci is the newest addition to join Jane Levy and Shiloh Fernandez on that fateful, doomed trip to the cabin in the woods. Raimi himself is producing and wrote some of the new screenplay, with Levy (replacing Lily Collins) as the lead character standing in for Bruce Campbell’s Ash.

The new take on Raimi’s original “Evil Dead” sees five friends – David, Natalie, Eric, Olivia, and Mia – vacationing in a remote cabin in the woods only to discover a Book of the Dead, which unleashes an evil demonic force that possesses each of them until only one is left to survive. Fernandez’s David and Natalie are engaged, while Levy’s Mia is an ex-drug addict hoping to detox in the cabin. Olivia is her best friend while Pucci will play Eric, the one who unleashes the demons upon the group. Diablo Cody rewrote the script for director Fede Alvarez.

Pucci caught the attention of the indie world when he starred in Mike Mills’ directorial debut “Thumbsucker” and has remained a steady but low-profile presence on the indie circuit ever since, with roles in “Fast Food Nation”, “Southland Tales”, 2011′s Sundance entry “The Music Never Stopped” and Mills’ current awards contender “Beginners.”

Saoirse Ronan to (sort of) play Snow White after all, takes lead in Disney’s “Order of the Seven”

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

After being linked to and turning down both other current Snow White movies (in the end “Mirror Mirror” went to Lily Collins and “Snow White and the Huntsman” to Kristen Stewart), Saoirse Ronan has chosen to play a sort of version of that fairy tale princess after all. Variety reports Ronan is in final negotiations for Disney’s self-described “warrior pic” “The Order of the Seven”, which originated as a version of the Snow White tale, going under the titles “Snow White and the Seven Samuri” and then “Snow and the Seven” before settling on its current fairy tale-less title.

Ronan will play Olivia, a young Brit living in Hong Kong in the 19th century who seeks protection from an international order of warriors (seven of them). When an evil empress threatens them, she helps the warriors defend their destiny and reclaim their noble roots. Sure, Disney is claiming the film no longer has anything to do with the fairy tale, and who can blame them, but… come on. It still sounds an awful lot like the revisionist Snow White tale that existed a year ago, minus an evil stepmother and magic mirror or two. The studio is also looking for an international audience by seeking to cast local Chinese, Japanese and Russian actors to play the parts of the warriors. Filming under the direction of Michael Gracey – making his feature directorial debut – will begin this fall.

Ronan, Oscar nominee for “Atonement” and one of the most talented and promising young actresses working today, just wrapped up vampire flick “Byzantium” opposite Gemma Arterton and is gearing up to shoot “The Host” for director Andrew Niccol, based on the novel by “Twilight” author Stephanie Meyer. She is also attached to sci-fi actioner “How I Live Now”, about a teenage girl trying to survive WWIII in the British countryside. Ronan was most recently seen as teenage assasin “Hanna” and next lends her voice to “The Secret World of Arriety.”

“Young Adult” breakout star Patton Oswalt joins Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

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

Longtime comedian and award season breakout star Patton Oswalt is enjoying something of a higher profile in Hollywood following a tremendous role opposite Charlize Theron in Jason Reitman’s divisive dark comedy “Young Adult.” And what comes with a higher profile? Higher profile roles, of course! Variety reports Oswalt has joined the cast of Ben Stiller’s remake of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, also starring Kristen Wiig, who had something of a breakout year herself after co-writing and starring in “Bridesmaids.”

Stiller is directing and also starring in the remake of the 1974 comedy, which was based on a 1939 short story that appeared in The New Yorker. Stiller plays the title character, a timid LIFE Magazine employee who develops pictures of other people having adventures. When an important negative goes missing, he gets to play hero and maybe get the girl (Wiig). Oswalt plays Todd, an eHarmony counselor who helps Mitty set up a dating profile and Shirley MacLaine is also on board as Mitty’s mom. Filming begins in April.

Oswalt, a longtime series regular on Kevin James sitcom “The King of Queens”, came close to Oscar this year when he played the sarcastic foil to Theron’s hot mess in “Young Adult” (he was just honored for that performance with a Virtuosos Award last weekend at the Santa Barbara Film Festival). He can be seen opposite Steve Carell and Keira Knightley in this summer’s apocalyptic comedy “Seeking a Friend at the End of the World” and with Anton Yelchin and Willem Defoe in “Odd Thomas.”

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