Lily Collins Helps Resurrect “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”

May 1, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 8 Comments

lily-collins2 This project is as hard to kill as its baddies. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is a film that’s been in development hell for years (we’ve been tracking it since 2010, though that wasn’t even the start of it), and now it looks like it’s got yet another shot at life, with Variety reporting today that it’s found itself a new director – Burr Steers, and a new star – Lily Collins.

Seth Grahame-Smith adapted the screenplay from his own novel of the same name, which faithfully retells the courtship between Jane Austen’s famous lovers Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, but with one major twist: the idyllic Victorian setting of their courtship is overrun with blood-sucking, brain-eating undead zombies. And with both Elizabeth and Darcy well trained in the art of combat, their iconic verbal sparring sometimes descends into inflicting actual physical violence on each other. Collins finds herself in good company amongst the many young actresses who have been attached to the role – from Natalie Portman to Anne Hathaway to Blake Lively to Emma Stone – and only time will tell if she’s the one to stop this Victorian zombie apocalypse or if the next round of casting musical chairs will begin anew.

Collins will test her teen franchise metal this year as the lead of August release “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, which seeks to become the next “Hunger Games” or “Twilight.” She’s also completed work on indie dramas “Stuck in Love” (previously “Writers”) and “The English Teacher” with Julianne Moore and next heads to Ireland to film romantic drama “Love, Rosie” opposite Sam Claflin.

Watch: Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell-Bower in first trailer for “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”

November 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 2 Comments

Fans of Cassandra Clare’s young adult fantasy series “The Mortal Instruments” are surely excited at the first trailer released for the big screen adaptation (now “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” – see how they’re already prepared for the franchise potential?), but what can people who haven’t read the book make of this first footage of Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower in action?

There’s a lot of exposition in this first trailer, a bit too much by my estimation. Collins plays Clary Fray, who begins seeing people who aren’t really there, and those people are killing supernatural creatures that aren’t really there. She’s drawn into the world of Shadowhunters and learns she’s one herself, and there’s something about demons, and half-angels and some great evil that Clary and her new friends – including Campbell-Bower’s Shadowhunter Jace – must now defeat.

The trailer left me a bit exhausted and I can’t say I particularly want to shell out $12 for the chance to further explore Clary’s world – which looks like a cross between “The Da Vinci Code” and another Collins dud: “The Priest” – but clearly director Harald Zwart and the studio are banking on the caravans of fans of the books who will turn out for midnight screenings around the world. Does this trailer make you want to be there? August 23, 2013 is the date you’ll want to circle in red on your calendar if so. See the first trailer below.

First Look: Lily Collins brandishes her power in first still image from “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”

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

Lily Collins looks ready to conquer the YA landscape to become the next great teen heroine in our first look at an image from the big screen adaptation of “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.” Entertainment Weekly released the still today, which shows Collins as Clary Fray, the 15 year old ordinary girl who discovers she’s not so ordinary after all.

In Clary’s case, her world is turned upside down when she discovers she can see supernatural beings and crosses paths with the Shadowhunters, other gifted humans who hunt and kill demons. She meets her match in the arrogant Jace Wayland, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, as well as his friends the Lightwood twins, Isabelle played by British newcomer Jemima West and Alec played by Kevin Zegers.

“Clary has the ability to both create new symbols and make runes that are stronger than other people’s. In this scene, she is fending off an enemy with the first rune that she’s ever drawn on herself at the amazement of the other Shadowhunters,” series author Cassandra Clare tells EW of the first photo. “It was very reassuring to come on set and see everything covered in runes and replicated down to the last detail. The movie was definitely made by people who love the books and wanted to do right by them.”

Harald Zwart recently completed filming and “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” is expected to be released on August 23, 2013. The full photo can be seen below, and the first trailer is expected to hit tomorrow.

Kevin Zegers to play Alec Lightwood in “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”

July 27, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Canadian actor Kevin Zegers has been tapped for the role of Alec Lightwood in teen franchise hopeful “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, according to Just Jared. He joins Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Robert Sheehan, Jemima West and fellow Canadian Godfrey Gao in the production set to film next month.

Collins stars as Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans born with angelic blood who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle and Zegers’ Alec is Isabelle’s brother, also a Shadowhunter. He also harbors a secret flame for Jace and is cold towards Clary at first because of it, though he ultimately realizes Gao’s Magnus, an 800 year old warlock, is his true love. Harald Zwart is directing the first movie based on Cassandra Clare’s best-selling teen novels and the film is scheduled for release on August 23, 2013.

Zegers had roles in “Transamerica” opposite Felicity Huffman’s Oscar-nominated turn, “The Jane Austen Book Club” and is a recurring guest on The CW series “Gossip Girl.” He’s currently filming indie drama “All the Wrong Reasons” opposite Adam Brody and Sarah Gadon.

Taiwanese actor Godfrey Gao to play Magnus in “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”

July 19, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 5 Comments

Taiwanese model/actor Godfrey Gao (Gao Yi Xiang) has landed the role of Magnus Bane in “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, the first in a potential new teen franchise starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell-Bower as the teenage star-crossed paranormal lovers. The Harald Zwat-directed film, based on the series by Cassandra Clare, also stars newcomers Jemima West and Robert Sheehan, as well as more established new additions Lena Headey, Kevin Durand, Robert Maillet and Jared Harris.

Collins stars as Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle. Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. Gao’s Magnus, described as “a quarter Indonesian, a quarter Dutch, and half demon”, is introduced as a warlock and plays a crucial part throughout the series. As he is over 800 years old, he also features in the prequel series, The Infernal Devices. Zwart will direct the first film in Toronto this summer, aiming for an August 23, 2013 release.

Gao, who grew up in Vancouver but who has acted only in Chinese TV dramas, was named the face of Louis Vuitton last year and has been dubbed “the world’s first Asian male supermodel.”

“Misfits” star Robert Sheehan to play Simon in “The Mortal Instruments” opposite Lily Collins

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

Teen franchise hopeful “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” has added another young UK actor to its cast. “Misfits” star Robert Sheehan has been chosen for the role of Simon Lewis and joins a cast that already includes Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell-Bower and Jemima West. The novels’ author Cassandra Clare broke the news on her official Tumblr earlier today.

Collins stars as Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle. Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. He, too, gets drawn into the secret underground world of the Shadowhunters in New York City. Harald Zwart will direct the film in Toronto this summer, aiming for an August 23, 2013 release.

Irish actor Sheehan has a cult following thanks to his role as Nathan Young on UK teen series “Misfits”, but he has left the show, presumably in order to pursue a rising film career, which kicked off when he co-starred opposite Ben Barnes in “Killing Bono.” This will certainly prove to have been a wise choice if “City of Bones” is successful enough to spawn sequels – Clare has written five books in the main series, without counting prequels and spin-offs.

British actress Jemima West joins Lily Collins in teen franchise hopeful “The Mortal Instruments”

June 20, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Newcomer Jemima West has landed the role of Isabelle Lightwood in “The Mortal Instruments”, the novel’s author Cassandra Clare took to Tumblr to report. She will join Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell-Bower in the Harald Zwart-directed adaptation of the first novel in a series that’s Screen Gems’ answer to “the next Twilight/Hunger Games.”

Collins will play the lead character, 15-year old Clary Fray, who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons. Of course, there is a boy for Clary to fall in love with, and his name is Jace Wayland, an arrogant Shadowhunter. West’s Isabelle is a fellow Shadowhunter who is beautiful, strong and defiant. Her brother, Alec, has reportedly been cast as well, though Clare would only confirm he’s British and is not: Nicholas Hoult, Ben Barnes or Douglas Booth. Let the speculation begin!

Paris-born West has appeared on numerous French TV shows, including “Maison close”, but is probably most known to American audiences for her recently completed role as Vittoria on season 2 of Showtime series “The Borgias.”

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