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.

Watch: Benjamin Walker kicks ass as “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” in first trailer

February 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 3 Comments

One of our favorite risings stars, Benjamin Walker had some bad news last week as it was announced that Alex Proyas’ ambitious 3D action epic “Paradise Lost” – in which Walker had been attached as one of the two main leads – had been halted for good. The good news for Walker is that epic action looks to be in his future still, as the first trailer for “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” looks as fantastic as its previous promo materials and makes us even more excited for its summer release. Tim Burton produced and Timur Bekmambetov directed the sprawling, CGI filled revisionist biopic on the 16th President of the United States, and Walker in the title role is joined by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper and a slew of other up and comers.

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” will be released on June 22nd. Have we mentioned how excited we are for this movie?? Get on the bandwagon and watch the new trailer below.

Watch: First footage of Benjamin Walker and Anthony Mackie from the set of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”

January 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 1 Comment

We’ve seen the first pictures and poster of Benjamin Walker as the titular revisionist US President “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, but today we get our first footage from the set of the film. Walker looks totally transformed and eerily like the Lincoln from history while standing in front of Congress. No vampire shenanigans happening in this first video from the movie, just some green screens and a lot of guys in suits, including Anthony Mackie, who plays William, Ab’s best friend. Timur Bekmambetov directed the film on location in New Orleans this spring and the cast also includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Dominic Cooper.

MTV was on the set to talk to Walker, Mackie, Bekmambetov and more about the film. “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is one of our most anticipated movies of the year and will be released on June 22, 2012.

Emily Browning joins “Summer in February” cast, replacing Ophelia Lovibond

January 13, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

Production on Jonathan Smith’s “Summer In February” began last week, but in a last minute change, Emily Browning has replaced British actress Ophelia Lovibond in the leading female role.

Also starring Dominic Cooper and Dan Stevens, the film has been adapted from the novel of the same name by Smith, and is a “love triangle set at an Edwardian artists’ colony on the Cornish coast of England in the early 20th century”, following Alfred Munnings (Cooper) and his best friend Gilbert (Stevens) as fall in love with the same girl.

Variety‘s report doesn’t explain why Browning has taken over from Lovibond, but this is another good coup for Browning whose 2012 is shaping up to be a busy year.
The Australian thesp has indie thriller “Magic Magic” with Michael Cera and Juno Temple due out this year, and is also starring in the screwball comedy Cassy and Jude.

Dominic Cooper, Ophelia Lovibond and Dan Stevens join “Summer in February” love triangle

December 16, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 3 Comments

Dominic Cooper‘s career is slowly going from strength to strength. He’s showed his range through supporting roles in a variety of films, from 2008 musical “Mamma Mia” and 2009 Oscar-nominated drama An Education, to box office hit “Captain America: The First Avenger” and this year’s Oscar contender “My Week With Marilyn” and we think 2012 is definitely going to be the year to watch him gain leading man status.

He’ll be headlining revenge thriller “Motor City” alongside Amber Heard and take on the role of Abraham Lincoln’s vampire mentor Henry Sturgess in the revisionist tale “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” (due out in June 2012).

But up next he’ll be moving back to Romantic Leading Man territory, with a role in Jonathan Smith’s “Summer In February”, alongside fellow British actors Dan Stevens and Ophelia Lovibond.

Cooper’s cast mates are fast rising British stars, with Stevens an audience favourite of British TV show “Downton Abbey.” His first taste of Hollywood will come next year, in Amy Heckerling’s “Vamps”, with Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter. Lovibond is most famous for her role in “Mr Popper’s Penguins” and British film “4,3,2,1″.

“Summer in February” will be adapted from the novel of the same name by Smith, and will be directed by Christopher Menual. The story follows Cooper’s Alfred Munnings, as he falls in loves with Florence (Lovibond) and his best friend Gilbert (Stevens) falls in love with her at the same time. A “love triangle set at an Edwardian artists’ colony on the Cornish coast of England in the early 20th century”, Deadline reports that the film is set to begin production in January.

First Look: Benjamin Walker makes for one sexy, badass “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” in first poster

December 15, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 1 Comment

Today IGN has unveiled our first look at one of our most highly anticipated movies of 2012. Benjamin Walker smolders in the understated yet highly conceptual first poster for “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, hiding his face, wielding an axe. Just another Saturday night at the White House.

The self-explanatory title refers to this revisionist historical tale revolving around the 16th President of the United States, who has one singular goal in his life: to rid the world of vampires, one of whom killed his mother when he was a child. His subsequent run for political office and every landmark decision he ever made, from the Emancipation Proclamation to the Civil War, were made with that one goal in mind. Joining Walker in the titular role are a slew of up and coming actors, including Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd (eventually Lincoln), Dominic Cooper as Henry Sturgess, Lincoln’s vampire mentor and Anthony Mackie as Will, Lincoln’s best friend. Director Timur Bekmambetov and producer Tim Burton recently wrapped up shooting in New Orleans and are aiming for a summer blockbuster release date of June 22, 2012.

There may be some other Lincoln story in the works for next year as well, but put us down for the badass, axe-wielding, monster-fighting Great Emancipator.

Amber Heard wins coveted female lead in “Motor City” opposite Dominic Cooper

November 21, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Could the early cancellation of NBC’s “The Playboy Club” have been a blessing in disguise? We definitely think so, as it has freed up head Bunny – and one of our favorite up and comers – Amber Heard to do more movies, and right off the bat she has landed a highly coveted, high profile role. Deadline reports Heard has landed the female lead in Warner Bros’ ambitious revenge thriller “Motor City” opoosite leading man Dominic Cooper, after testing for the role against several other young actresses.

Cooper will star as a sort of modern day Count of Monte Cristo, a small time crook who is framed for a crime and sent to prison and seeks revenge on those who set him up upon his release. The innovative and ambitious aspect of “Motor City”, a 2009 Black List script from Chad St John, is that it is virtually dialogue-free, containing only one spoken line throughout its feature length story. Albert Hughes will direct. It was Cooper’s revelatory double role as Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia in Sundance hit “The Devil’s Double” that made producer Joel Silver ultimately decide on him. It’s quite a coup for the young actor, after names like Evans, Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Renner were previously reported to be in consideration for the part.

Heard is coming off a string of horror duds – “The Stepfather”, “And Soon the Darkness”, “The Ward” – but turned some heads when she starred opposite Johnny Depp in the long-gestating adaptation of “The Rum Diary”, based on the Hunter S. Thompson classic. “Motor City” is quite the get for the promising actress, and we’re just glad she’s free to do such ambitious and interesting work now that she’s not shackled to primetime television anymore. Thanks, NBC!

“The Killing” star Joel Kinnaman is Lancelot in “Arthur and Lancelot”; the hunt for Arthur continues

October 28, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Warner Bros has found their version of one half of the most legendary friendship/rivalry of all time. THR reports “The Killing” star Joel Kinnaman has landed the hotly contested role of Lancelot in David Dobkin’s “Arthur and Lancelot”, a modernized retelling of the historical legend. Though previous reports had “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington a front-runner for one of the two roles with Kinnaman, his casting is not nearly as certain. With the two under thirty day holds following a London screen test while filmmakers deliberated, it’s curious that Kinnaman ended up with an official deal while Harington did not.

THR further reports Kinnaman will now do chemistry tests with several up and coming actors for the role of Arthur. Whether this includes Harington, or other shortlist names like Sam Claflin, Dominic Cooper, Hans Matheson, Jim Sturgess, Ben Walker and Liam Hemsworth, remains to be seen.

Dobkin’s vision for the film remains vague with no plot details revealed, though he did tell The Playlist over the summer, “I pulled the legend apart. I only kept a few things. I kept certain characters, I recreated the entire launch of the legend and why it starts the way that it starts, I don’t want to give away too much but it’s always had a flaw. I pulled the flaws out, I reinvented the characters as grounded characters. I took a much more realistic and grounded approach towards everybody, you know why would this character be this way and why would this character be that way? You know Arthur’s superpower is compassion and vision. I will tell you this, the whole thing is wrapped around the birth of democracy as a concept and it’s positing Arthur as the first man to say all men are created equal.”

Kinnaman is currently working on the second season of divisive AMC series “The Killing”, which ended its first season on a twist of a cliffhanger involving his character. On the film front, Kinnaman’s star should be rising fast after breaking out in hit Swedish thriller “Snabba Cash”; with roles as Daniel Craig and Robin Wright’s magazine co-editor in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and as the man who operates Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington’s “Safe House.” He’ll next be seen as one of a quartet of young Americans -with Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor and Max Minghella – who fend off an alien attack in Russia in “The Darkest Hour”, out in December.

“Arthur and Lancelot” already has a March 15, 2013 release date.

Michelle Williams in stunning new poster and a plethora of stills from “My Week with Marilyn”

October 27, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

“My Week with Marilyn” has been all the rage in the blogosphere ever since it premiered at the New York Film Festival several weeks ago, with critics tripping over themselves to heap praise upon Michelle Williams portraying the iconic screen legend. When you see some of the imagery from the film, it’s not hard to see why. Moviefone has the exclusive unveiling of the stunning new poster, shot by famed French photographer Brigette Lancome, capturing Williams in an uncanny likeness to the late and great Marilyn.

We still have our reservations about whether Williams can really pull it off (sorry critics, you’ve been wrong before!), but for now, we’ll sit back and enjoy how beautiful and enchanting the film looks. Eddie Redmayne and Emma Watson also get some time in the spotlight in the new stills below, giving us just a couple of more things to look forward to. “My Week with Marilyn” opens November 23 in select theaters.

Brooding TV hunks Kit Harington and Joel Kinnaman front-runners for “Arthur and Lancelot”

October 21, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 6 Comments

Let’s be clear here: I’m a huge Arthurian legend fan and even bigger Lancelot fan. After a string of onscreen adaptations that have seen the marginalizing of Arthur’s best friend, right hand man and ultimate downfall (“King Arthur”, “Merlin”, “Camelot”, I’m looking at you), it’s a relief to hear of a project that has Lancelot’s name right there in the title. No way they can mess him up in this one, right? Comedy director David Dobkin has been tasked with developing and directing “Arthur and Lancelot”, a modern re-imagining of the iconic friendship and rivalry between King and Knight, and the project is one step closer to becoming reality as he has zeroed in on a couple of newcomers for the title roles.

The Playlist reports “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington and “The Killing” star Joel Kinnaman are the front-runners for the two lead roles, though it’s unclear who’s up for which. The two relative unknowns beat out a legion of other up and comers, some fairly more famous but no A-Listers: Sam Claflin, Dominic Cooper, Hans Matheson, Jim Sturgess, Ben Walker and Liam Hemsworth. Harington and Kinnaman have not officially signed on nor received official offers, but did screen test together for the director in London a couple of weeks ago.

The plot of the film remains vague, with Dobkin seeming to indicate it might be a loose interpretation of the basic structure of the legend (sigh!). “I pulled the legend apart. I only kept a few things. I kept certain characters, I recreated the entire launch of the legend and why it starts the way that it starts, I don’t want to give away too much but it’s always had a flaw,” he told The Playlist. “I pulled the flaws out, I reinvented the characters as grounded characters. I took a much more realistic and grounded approach towards everybody, you know why would this character be this way and why would this character be that way? You know Arthur’s superpower is compassion and vision. I will tell you this, the whole thing is wrapped around the birth of democracy as a concept and it’s positing Arthur as the first man to say all men are created equal.” Ok, that sounds great, but at least some of it is about Guinevere… right?

We’ll get to see when the movie is released on March 15, 2013, but in the meantime, Harington is back at work on season 2 of HBO’s monstrous hit “Game of Thrones”, while Kinnaman is on the second season of the slightly less successful and much more divisive “The Killing”. On film though, Kinnaman’s star should be rising fast after breaking out in hit Swedish thriller “Snabba Cash”; with roles as Daniel Craig and Robin Wright’s magazine co-editor in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and as the man who operates Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington’s “Safe House.” He’ll next be seen as one of a quartet of young Americans -with Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor and Max Minghella – who fend off an alien attack in Russia in “The Darkest Hour”, out in December.

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