Xavier Samuel joins Emily Browning and Cam Gigandet in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Plush”

August 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

It’s an out and out cornucopia of “Twilight” connections. Catherine Hardwicke, the director who launched the franchise that started it all behind the camera, Emily Browning – who famously turned down the chance to be Bella Swan – as the star, the franchise’s first bad guy Cam Gigandet as her husband, and now “Eclipse” bad guy Xavier Samuel is in too.

Variety reports Samuel has signed on to play another villainous role in Hardwicke’s LA-set thriller “Plush”, previously reported to be about a psychic psychologist (Gigandet) and a young girl who shares his gift (Browning). That appears to have been completely off base, as the plot actually revolves around Browning as a rising rock star who begins to downward spiral after losing her brother to a drug overdose. She’s married to Gigandet’s character, but finds solace in new a new bandmate (Samuel) regardless. That turns out to be a horrible idea as he begins to show his true psycho self. Filming begins at the end of this month in LA.

Samuel starred in very well-received films in his native Australia, including surf drama “Newcastle” and cult horror fave “The Loved Ones”, and seemed on the brink of a Hollywood breakout when he was cast in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”, though he has since mostly retreated back to doing movies Down Under. He’ll soon be seen in another surfing drama, this time opposite Sam Worthington in “Drift”, as well as shark attack horror “Bait” and dark family comedy “Two Mothers” (formerly “The Grandmothers”) opposite Naomi Watts, Robin Wright and James Frecheville.

Cam Gigandet joins Emily Browning in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Plush”

June 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

It’s a “Twilight” reunion for director Catherin Hardwicke and baddie vampire James Cam Gigandet, as Variety reports the actor has joined the director’s newest feature, “Plush.” Gigandet joins Emily Browning in the “erotic thriller” set in LA, with Gigandet playing a psychic psychologist who delves into the dreams and memories of his patients to help them unlock past demons. He meets his match in Browning’s young teenager, who shares his gifts.

Gigandet was reportedly Hardwicke’s choice for the role of Emmett in “Twilight”, but he didn’t want to commit to four movies and the role went to Kellan Lutz instead. Gigandet followed up his one “Twilight” commitment with roles in “The Roommate”, “Burlesque” and “Easy A.” He has also wrapped up on “Code Name: Geronimo”, John Stockwell’s Osama Bin Laden movie which will rival Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” when it’s released later this fall.

The “Twilight” that wasn’t; Emily Browning to replace Evan Rachel Wood in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Plush”

May 25, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Emily Browning may have famously turned down the chance to be Bella Swan, but looks like she’ll get a chance to work with “Twilight”‘s director after all. Variety reports Browning is in talks to star in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Plush”, which the director had previously earmarked for “Thirteen” star Evan Rachel Wood.

Originally described as an erotic thriller set in the music scene in LA, Variety’s new report indicates the script from Hardwicke and Artie Nelson actually follows a psychologist who delves into people’s minds to see their dreams and memories, to help them unlock past demons. The drama begins when he meets Browning’s character, a teen who shares his gift. Distrbution rights are up for grabs at Cannes while Hardwicke searches for the male lead.

Browning recently wrapped up shooting period romance “Summer In February” opposite Dominic Cooper and “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens and next stars in thriller “Magic Magic” opposite Michael Cera and Juno Temple. She was poised for a breakout as the star of Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch”, but the movie fizzled with audiences and critics. She’s also attached to indie screwball comedy “Cassy and Jude”, in which she’ll play identical twins, and received high marks at last year’s Cannes Film Fest as the star of Julia Leigh’s controversial “Sleeping Beauty.”

Catherine Hardwicke announces plans to work with Evan Rachel Wood again in “Plush”, an ‘erotic thriller’

February 6, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 3 Comments

It’s been nearly ten years since Evan Rachel Wood broke out in Catherine Hardwicke‘s “Thirteen”, starring alongside Nikki Reed as a thirteen-year-old girl whose relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime. The role garnered Wood her first Golden Globe nomination, something she went on to do again this past year for her work on the five part mini-series Mildred Pierce.

Written by Reed and Hardwicke, Thirteen was Oscar and BAFTA nominated, as well as winning at the Sundance Film Festival and the Independant Spirit Awards. But whilst Reed went on to work with Hardwicke again (Lords of Dogtown, Twilight), Wood’s career faltered for a while. With a recurring role on TV show “True Blood” though, and supporting roles in recent awards-friendly films such as The Ides of March and The Wrestler, Wood is now set to work with Hardwicke once again.

A recent interview by Young Hollywood with Hardwicke (via Playlist) turns up some interesting news – “I think I’m doing another cool movie with Evan next, a really wild, erotic thriller”. Hardwicke goes on to say the character will be “pushing the edge, pushing the envelope”. It looks like the film, entitled Plush, will be set in the L.A. music industry and was co-scripted by Hardwicke and Artie Nelson.

The film is being taken to the European Film Market next month where it hope to find a buyer. We’re excited to see these two work together again, and to see Hardwicke go back to what sounds like a return to her earlier work so all fingers will be crossed here on Up and Comers.

REVIEW: “Red Riding Hood” hits a few fun notes but falls mostly flat with lack of conviction

March 10, 2011 | Posted by Stephanie Moncada in Reviews 1 Comment

Directed by “Twilight’s” Catherine Hardwicke, one could expect “Red Riding Hood”, very loosely based on the Grimm fairy tale, to raise the teenage angst and romance up a notch to be the focal point of the movie, but it surprisingly takes a backseat to the rather contrived whodunit mystery of the wolf instead. All the villagers of Daggerhorn are suspects, making for a fairly unpredictable conclusion, though the story suffers greatly for its lack of fun, passion and real suspense not of the quick-cuts-to-snarling-teeth variety. The movie could have been pure popcorn-popping entertainment for the teen set, but ultimately falls flat.

With a flashback of Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) and Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) as children, the two are immediately set up as the “soul mates” of the movie and we’re quickly thrust into their adult relationship in the present. Despite their obviously heated relationship, all is not well between them as Valerie’s parents (Billy Burke and Virgina Madsen) have arranged for her to marry the wealthier blacksmith Henry (Max Irons) who, of course, could provide her with a “better” future. Though just how much better her life would be in a village populated with seemingly identical wood huts and every person having equally mundane occupations if she married one man or another, is unclear. Valerie reassures Peter that he’s the only one for her and the two make plans to run away together but that plan is foiled when it’s discovered that The Wolf, the mysterious creature that has cast a shadow of fear over the small village for generations, has murdered Valerie’s older sister. Throw in a threat from Valerie’s mother regarding her engagement and conflict between Peter and Valerie is formed as Peter distances himself from her, attempting to save her from himself.

“Red Riding Hood” star Shiloh Fernandez is glad he’s not Robert Pattinson

February 9, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Interviews 14 Comments

Director Catherine Hardwicke has never made much of a secret of the fact that her choice for the role of Edward Cullen in the “Twilight” saga was not Robert Pattinson. It was the already-cast Bella Swan, Kristen Stewart, who talked Hardwicke and the producers into choosing the little-known British actor after their screen test together. Hardwicke’s idea of the perfect mysterious vampire stalker/lover was then 22 year old Shiloh Fernandez, and not giving up on the star quality she saw in him, she immediately cast him as the male lead in her next film, “Red Riding Hood”, a dark and edgy retelling of the classic fairy tale that sees Amanda Seyfried torn between two guys and fighting off supernatural predators against a pounding and thoroughly modern rock soundtrack. Sounds like fairly familiar territory.

Hardwicke probably is onto something with Fernandez. After all, she’s made a career out of discovering and showcasing promising young acting talent, from Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Wood in “Thirteen”, Heath Ledger and Emile Hirsch in “Lords of Dogtown”, and Stewart and Pattinson in “Twilight”. Once “Red Riding Hood” hits theaters, Fernandez and co-star Max Irons could easily become objects of teenage girl fantasy, while Seyfried, fairly famous already from her other projects, could finally tap into the female teen market the way her last couple of films (“Dear John” and “Letters to Juliet”) failed to do. History certainly suggests a fairly successful upward trajectory is in their future.

And how does Fernandez, one of our faces to watch in 2011, feel about losing out on that global superstar-making vampire franchise? He tells Wonderland Magazine (via Metro UK) he doesn’t envy Pattinson’s fame one bit. “It makes me happy that I didn’t do it. How can you want that for yourself? How can you wish that on anybody? I think Pattinson handled it really well – he seems like a neat kid, interesting and kind of strange but I wasn’t in the right mind to take any of that. I wasn’t mentally prepared to have any sort of success in that way. Even with this tiny, tiny morsel of fame I’m experiencing now I still feel uncomfortable.”

Fernandez, who also has 80s indie dramedy “Skateland” down the pike, better start getting a little more comfortable with being famous because this tiny, tiny morsel of fame he is experiencing now is sure to increase exponentially when “Red Riding Hood” is released in theaters on March 11, 2011. You can read his full interview with Wonderland magazine in their Spring Issue, on newsstands now.

Watch: New “Red Riding Hood” trailer puts emphasis on the mystery of The Wolf

January 19, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

We’ve done some extensive coverage of Catherine Hardwicke’s “Red Riding Hood”, a new re-imagining of the classic fairy tale starring Amanda Seyfried as it is one of our most anticipated films of 2011 (no judgment please!), but it’s still exciting every time something new is released from the film. The newly released 2nd theatrical trailer is just such an example, as it may just be the most exciting piece of promo we’ve gotten thus far. Minimizing the love triangle that will surely eat up a lot more screen time than the new trailer lets on, it emphasizes instead the mystery surrounding “The Wolf”, the monster that has been terrorizing the small village perched on the edge of a forest. Gary Oldman takes center stage as the witch-hunter brought in to hunt down the creature. Also good to see more of Max Irons, who plays second fiddle to Shiloh Fernandez as the “other” love interest to Seyfried’s Valerie. No spoilers here, but does anyone else feel like they already know who “The Wolf” is based on everything we’ve seen so far? We’ll see if we’re right when the film hits theaters on March 11, 2011.

Watch the new trailer below or in pristine High Definition at Apple Trailers.

New “Red Riding Hood” poster and stills

January 12, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 1 Comment

Amanda Seyfried gives the titular “Red Riding Hood” quite a workout in these new poster and stills from the March release, the first feature from Catherine Hardwicke since 2008′s smash hit “Twilight”. From everything we’ve seen so far, in particular the trailer, Hardwicke is employing many of the same elements from “Twilight” on this new re-imagining of the classic fairy tale that casts Seyfried as Valerie, a girl torn between two loves whose village is under siege from a mysterious presence known as “The Wolf”, who may or may not be one of the townspeople in disguise.

One of the stills showcases clearly for the first time Max Irons, the “other” love interest to Seyfried in the film. Shiloh Fernandez is getting most of the buzz in the mysterious and forbidden soulmate role (we think he’s on an upward trajectory too), but Irons, son of Jeremy, should have his own breakout moment as he plays Henry, the dashing, white knight, “good guy” suitor.

“Red Riding Hood” is one of our most anticipated movies of 2011 and releases in theaters on March 11.

First Look at Amanda Seyfried in “Red Riding Hood”

November 12, 2010 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

Entertainment Weekly publishes the first official stills of Amanda Seyfried in “Red Riding Hood” in this week’s issue and Shock ‘Till You Drop has the scan. Seyfried is seen donning the iconic red hood and getting friendly with one of two love interests, played by Shiloh Fernandez. In this dark retelling of the classic fairytale, directed by “Twilight”‘s Catherine Hardwicke, Seyfried plays Valerie, a village girl torn between two lovers and simultaneously fending off dark supernatural forces.

“There’s a strong whodunit throughout the whole thing”, Hardwicke tells EW of the movie which releases March 11, 2011. “So it’s got the weird, interesting parts of Grimm’s fairy tale and then so much more.”

See the full scan under the cut.

catherine hardwicke