Kaya Scodelario and Tom Cullen Move Into Home Invasion Thriller “Tiger House”

May 9, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

tigerhouse British rising stars Kaya Scodelario and Tom Cullen have signed on to star in home invasion thriller “Tiger House”, according to Screen Daily. Dougary Scott is also part of the cast and theatre director Thomas Daley will make his feature directorial debut on the project.

Though no plot details are given via the press release, a concept teaser video on Daley’s official website gives us a pretty good idea: A gang of would-be bank robbers, instead of bursting in guns blazing to the bank itself during business hours, break into the bank manager’s house in the middle of the night instead, taking his family hostage and forcing him to rob his bank for them. However, they miss one inhabitant of the house (looking likely that Scodelario may play the lone escapee) and that certainly throws things for the robbers off track. Filming is slated to begin in September, with international distribution rights being sold at Cannes next week.

Scodelario, of “Skins” fame, is about to begin filming the female lead role of Teresa in Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s hit YA novel series “The Maze Runner” opposite Dylan O’Brien, and recently won raves from Sundance for her lead role in coming of age drama “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.” Cullen broke out in 2011 romantic drama “Weekend” and recently landed a pivotal role as Michelle Dockery’s new love interest on season four of “Downton Abbey.” On the film side he has also wrapped Richard Raymond’s “Desert Dancer” opposite Freida Pinto.

Watch Daley’s “Tiger House” concept teaser video below.

British Actress Lily James is Disney’s “Cinderella”

April 30, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

lily-james British actress Lily James has landed the coveted titular role in Disney’s new live-action adaptation of “Cinderella”, the studio announced today. James beat out competition from fellow up and comers Bella Heathcote and Margot Robbie to play the iconic Princess for director Kenneth Branagh.

Cate Blanchett will play Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother in the film which will shoot this fall. Aline Brosh McKenna and Chris Weitz wrote the screenplay and the search will now presumably turn to finding James her Prince Charming. Last we heard, “Game of Thrones” actor Richard Madden was the first name to surface in connection to the role, but if the search for Cinderella herself was anything to go by, he won’t be the last.

James played Korrina in “Wrath of the Titans” and appeared as Lady Rose MacClare in the third and fourth season of “Downton Abbey”, making this quite the coup for the relatively unknown young actress.

“Downton Abbey” Star Michelle Dockery Offered “The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society” Adaptation

April 26, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

michelle-dockery Following in Kate Winslet’s footsteps? Not a bad move for a rising British actress. The Daily Mail reports “Downton Abbey” star Michelle Dockery has been offered the lead role in Simon Curtis’ adaptation of bestselling novel “The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Socity”, a role Winslet had been previously attached to when Kenneth Branagh was going to direct it.

If a deal happens, Dockery will play a single, 30-something author named Juliet Ashton who wrote during World War II. The novel is set up as a series of vignettes from colorful characters who write letters to Juliet detailing their quirky, funny and heartbreaking stories as the war rages on. Letter-writing eventually leads to the formation of the titular Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as the island falls to German occupation. Filmmakers are hoping Dockery will be available to shoot the adaptation after the fourth season of “Downton Abbey” wraps in August.

Dockery was last seen on the big screen in two of Joe Wright’s films – “Hanna” and “Anna Karenina” – and she’s wrapped shooting on upcoming Liam Neeson thriller “Non-Stop”, but certainly her claim to fame thus far is as Lady Mary on ITV/PBS series “Downton Abbey.” Co-star Dan Stevens has already propelled “Downton” into a thriving movie career, and a role such as this one would surely open the same kind of doors for Dockery. Will she leave the show, as Stevens did?

“Downton Abbey” Alum Dan Stevens Set for Family Adventure “Swallows and Amazons”

April 5, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Well, it’s no wonder he decided to leave “Downton Abbey.” British actor Dan Stevens’ film career has been pretty much non-stop since departing the hit BBC series that made him a star, and now Deadline reports he has landed yet another project. Stevens will play the key role of James Turner aka Captain Flint in a big screen adaptation of hit children’s book series “Swallows and Amazons.”

Arthur Ransome wrote the series of books which are set in the Lake District of England in the summer of 1929. The Walker and Blackett families vacation there, and their children’s respective dingys are dubbed the Swallow and Amazon, respectively. John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker sail the Swallow, while Nancy and Peggy Blackett man the Amazon. The children meet on an island in the lake and go on a series of imagined adventures featuring the children as explorers and pirates, often imagining the Blacketts’ Uncle James as the evil Captain Flint. No director has been maned yet and casting is underway for the children who will play the lead roles, but a summer shoot is scheduled.

Stevens, who played the key role of Matthew Crawley for three seasons on hit series “Downton Abbey”, recently wrapped up starring opposite Jessica Chastain on Broadway in “The Heiress.” He will be seen next year on the big screen in period romantic drama “Summer in February” opposite Emily Browning and Dominic Cooper and, having recently wrapped up Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film “The Fifth Estate” opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl, is currently filming crime thriller “A Walk Among the Tombstones” with Liam Neeson.

Three Actresses Testing for “Cinderella”, “Game of Thrones” Actor Up for Prince

April 3, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Since Emma Watson won’t put on that glass slipper, Disney and director Kenneth Branagh are moving on in their search for “Cinderella.” Today Deadline reports three relatively unknown young actresses will be auditioning for the role this week in London, while a “Game of Thrones” actor is one of the names being bandied about for the role of the handsome Prince.

British actress Lily James and Aussies Bella Heathcote and Margot Robbie will be testing for the titular role this week, and Deadline seems confident one of the three is likely to emerge as the winner. Before offering the role to Watson, Disney had considered more known rising stars Saorise Ronan, Alicia Vikander and Gabriella Wilde for the part, though due to scheduling and other issues, none of them could be locked down.

After the poor girl turned Princess is chosen, the search will begin in earnest for her Prince. At the moment, the only name to surface in connection to that role is Richard Madden, who plays boy king Robb Stark on HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Meanwhile, Cate Blanchett is still attached to the role of Cinderella’s evil stepmother, which surely proves to be a major draw for young actors to this potentially star-making project. A fall production start is being eyed.

Heathcote has gone down the fairy tale princess route before, as she first caught our attention when she was shortlisted for the lead in “Snow White and the Huntsman.” She’s landed on plenty of shortlists for high profile young female roles since, and has worked steadily in films like “Dark Shadows” and “Not Fade Away.” Robbie was the star of ABC’s short lived series “Pan Am” before landing a major break as the female lead opposite Leonardo Dicaprio in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “The Wolf of Wall Street.” James played Korrina in “Wrath of the Titans” and appeared as Lady Rose MacClare in the third and fourth season of “Downton Abbey.”

Theo James Cast as Four in “Divergent”, Miles Teller Also Joining Cast

March 15, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

theo-james Well this one was a nailbiter. Months after we first heard about Shailene Woodley searching for her Four, news has finally arrived that British actor Theo James has landed the much sought-after male lead in Neil Burger’s adaptation of hit YA novel series “Divergent.” Additionally, the supporting cast is also coming together quick, and Summit/Lionsgate is closing deals with Kate Winslet (long rumored), Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart and Ray Stevenson. Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz, Jai Courtney and Maggie Q were previously announced.

Filming begins imminently in Chicago on the futuristic dystopian tale starring Woodley as Tris Prior, who lives in a society which divides its people into factions based on their most dominant character traits. She’s part of Abnegation, who values selflessness above all else, but abandons them at her choosing ceremony to join the Dauntless, who are known for being brave. There she meets Four, one of the leaders of her new faction. Courtney plays Eric, another Dauntless leader and Four’s rival (but rest assured, not for Tris’ affections). Elgort plays Tris’ brother, who also shocks their family when he chooses to leave Abnegation for Euridate, the faction that values knowledge. Q and Kravitz play Dautless faction members and Tris’ allies, while Winslet plays Jeanine, the leader of the Euridite who becomes a major villainous figure. Teller will also play a villain, a Dauntless bully named Peter. Eckhart seems logical for the role of Marcus, an Abnegation leader and Four’s father.

James, who many people recognize from “Downton Abbey”, starred opposite Kate Beckinsale in “Underworld: Awakening.” Teller, Woodley’s co-star in the upcoming “The Spectacular Now”, is earning raves for that Sundance and SXSW hit, and recently wrapped up shooting on ensemble rom com “Are We Officially Dating?” with Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan.

“Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens to take “A Walk Among the Tombstones” with Liam Neeson

February 12, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Now that he has left PBS series “Downton Abbey”, rising British actor Dan Stevens is having no problem transitioning to big screen roles. Variety reports he has signed on to star opposite Liam Neeson in crime thriller “A Walk Among the Tombstone”, which Scott Frank adapted and will direct starting next month.

Neeson plays an ex-cop now working as a private investigator who is tasked with finding the kidnapped wife of a drug dealer, who soon discovers the kidnappers have committed similar crimes before and have racked up quite a body count in the process. There’s no word yet on who Stevens will play.

Stevens, who played the key role of Matthew Crawley on hit series “Downton Abbey”, recently wrapped up starring opposite Jessica Chastain on Broadway in “The Heiress.” He 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. He’s currently filming Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film “The Fifth Estate” opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl.

“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.

Scoot McNairy and “Downton Abbey” star Michelle Dockery join Liam Neeson flight thriller “Non-Stop”

October 10, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Liam Neeson and Nate Parker are welcoming aboard some fellow passengers. Variety reports Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy and “Downton Abbey” actress Michelle Dockery have all joined the cast of Jaume Collet-Serra’s in-flight thriller “Non-Stop.”

Neeson plays an air marshall who is confronted – via text message! – by an America terrorist who claims to be aboard his flight. The villain threatens to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless Neeson kills himself. Parker will play a passenger on the flight who helps Neeson solve the mystery while there’s no word just yet on who the new cast additions will play. Filming is set to begin in New York City on November 1st. John Richardson and Chris Roach wrote the script.

McNairy has been on an upward swing since breaking out in Godzilla reboot director Gareth Edwards’ low budget thriller “Monsters.” He can be seen in Ben Affleck’s political thriller “Argo”, out this weekend, and soon in Andrew Dominik’s “Killing Them Softly” opposite Brad Pitt. He also recently wrapped up filming on Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years a Slave.”

Dockery was last seen on the big screen in Joe Wright’s “Hanna” and will next also appear in Wright’s “Anna Karenina”, but is most known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley on PBS’ mega-hit “Downton Abbey.” Curiously, several of Dockery’s audition tapes for high profile films were leaked online in recent weeks – Rob Marshall’s “The Thin Man” and “Into the Woods” among them – indicating there’s interest from her side in a more visible big screen career.

Imogen Poots, Alison Brie, Emilia Clarke and more vying for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”

October 2, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Imogen Poots, Teresa Palmer, “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke, “Downton Abbey” star Jessica Brown Findlay and “Community” star Alison Brie are vying for “a significant new role” in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, according to Deadline. This new report also appears to take the previously-rumored Anna Kendrick and Felicity Jones out of the running.

Chris Evans is reprising his role as the super soldier turned leader of “The Avengers” for the sequel that will take in modern times, with Sebastian Stan set to reprise his role as Bucky Barnes, who becomes the titular Winter Soldier and Scarlett Johansson returning to play the Black Widow, who shares significant history with Bucky in the comics. Anthony Mackie signed on recently to play Falcon, Cap’s longtime partner in crime in the comics, making his Marvel Film Universe debut. Anthony and Joseph Russo will direct “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” next March, with a release already set for April 4, 2014.

It’s unclear what role the young actresses are testing for, though it’s believed to be a new love interest for Steve. Could it be Sharon Carter, great-niece to Peggy Carter, the love Steve left behind in the 1940s and played by Hayley Atwell in “Captain America: The First Avenger”?

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