Hailee Steinfeld Joins Sam Worthington in Revenge Thriller “For the Dogs”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

haileesteinfeld Hailee Steinfeld is really mastering the art of the revenge thriller. The “True Grit” star will join Sam Worthington in yet another similarly themed tale, “For the Dogs”, according to Deadline.

Worthington plays an assassin who gets talked into helping a precocious teenager (Steinfeld) seek revenge on the criminals who murdered her parents and younger brother: “His guidance unleashes events that ultimately stoke her thirst for vengeance while he desperately seeks peace and absolution.” Phillip Noyce will direct.

Steinfeld’s also got “Three Days to Kill” and “Barely Lethal” in the same vein of assassin/revenge thrillers, and as one of our Faces to Watch in 2013, she’s got “Ender’s Game”, Carlo Carlei’s “Romeo and Juliet”, musical drama “Can a Song Save Your Life?” and romantic comedy “Hateship, friendship” awaiting release.

Watch: First Trailer for “Ender’s Game” Starring Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld

May 7, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 1 Comment

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Children are sent into battle in a futuristic world in this potential franchise launcher from Summit/Lionsgate, but “Ender’s Game” is very different from “The Hunger Games” in the first trailer for Gavin Hood’s adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s iconic sci-fi novel. Children’s innate innocence and bravery are emphasized in our first look at the film, which features Harrison Ford narrating why “a new kind of soldier” is needed to combat aliens who are always one step ahead of humans.

Set in a futuristic world where the human race has been all but wiped out by a race of bug-like aliens called Formics, the government recruits the best and brightest children to attend Battle School, where they are trained in the art of war through a series of games, including one in an anti-gravity Battle Room. Asa Butterfield plays Ender Wiggins, whose brilliance causes him to be promoted to Command School to act as a leader of children’s armies to “simulated” wars against the alien Formics, to largely successful outcomes. Hailee Steinfeld has an expanded supporting role as Petra, the only girl at the Command School, and Abigail Breslin plays Ender’s protective older sister.

The footage looks sleek and exciting, though frankly, also a bit generic and confusing, but sci-fi nerds should be excited about this one, which comes out on November 1st and hopes to be the start of a franchise. Watch the first trailer below and judge its potential for yourself.

Brit Marling Replacing Olivia Wilde in Civil War Drama “The Keeping Room”

April 24, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Not surprising due to her constantly busy schedule, but Olivia Wilde has apparently dropped the indie Civil War drama formerly known as “The Keeping Room”, and The Wrap reports Brit Marling will be taking her place. Original cast members Hailee Steinfeld and Nicole Beharie remain on board.

Written by Julia Hart and to be directed by Daniel Barber, the now untitled film will follow two sisters and one slave, during the dying days of the Civil War, who are forced to defend their home from a band of soldiers who have broken off from the Union Army. Filming had been set to begin in March in North Carolina but it looks like that has been pushed back.

Marling, who has made a name for herself writing and starring in films such as “Another Earth” and “Sound of My Voice”, was last seen opposite Richard Gere in financial thriller “Arbitrage” and has also completed another writing/acting project, eco-terrorist thriller “The East” due out next month. She recently wrapped up shooting on young Lincoln biopic “The Green Blade Rises” as well as dark art world comedy “Posthumous” and is attached to literary adaptation “The Grace that Keeps This World.”

Hailee Steinfeld is “Barely Lethal” in Indie Thriller

April 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Looks like Oscar nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld is going to have a big year, but she is not slowing down any time soon. Deadline reports the “Ender’s Game” star will headline indie thriller “Barely Lethal”, which is produced by Brett Ratner and will be directed by Kyle Newman.

The plot, which seems to put this also into the dark comedy category, revolves around Steinfeld’s Megan, a young girl raised at a boarding school which trains children to be assassins. With expert knowledge in killing people (and “a quirky sense of humor”) but no knowledge of how the real world works, she finds herself a fish out of water when she relocates to a small town and enrolls in a regular high school.

One of our Faces to Watch in 2013, Steinfeld has not been seen on the big screen since her feature film debut in the Coen Brothers’ “True Grit.” But this year we could see her in as many as four movies, starting with the sure thing: Gavin Hood’s adaptation of “Ender’s Game”, set for release in November. She’s also got Carlo Carlei’s new version of “Romeo and Juliet”, musical drama “Can a Song Save Your Life?” and romantic comedy “Hateship, Friendship” awaiting solid release dates. She’ll next film Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Homesman” with Meryl Streep and Hilary Swank.

Watch: Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld Are Your New “Romeo and Juliet” In First Trailer

April 12, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 1 Comment

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We expect during promo rounds for this movie, Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth will spend a great amount of time speaking of their admiration for Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo and Juliet” and how they’re in no way trying to top it, and judging from the first trailer for Carlo Carlei’s new take on the tragic romance, they’d be wise to make that clear up front.

Forget Luhrmann’s modern twist on the tale, Carlei’s vision clearly takes much more after Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 traditionally set film, which is still a classic, and which is perhaps partly the reason why this looks so uninspired. Everyone, from Booth as Romeo and Steinfeld as Juliet to “Gossip Girl” star Ed Westwick as Tybalt and Paul Giamatti as Friar Lawrence, looks the part in their lush costumes and questionable hair pieces, and are speaking the Bard’s words (as abridged by “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes), but there’s nothing here that says this is a definitive and new “Romeo and Juliet” for a new generation, which Carlie said he wanted to make.

Perhaps it’s too soon to tell and the teenagers discovering this tale for the first time from the 2013 film will be moved the same way Luhrmann’s film moved me in 1996. In any case, the British kids will get to see it first, on July 26th, while there’s no word yet on a US release. For now you can watch the first trailer below.

Hailee Steinfeld Joining Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Homesman”

April 10, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

She landed an Oscar nomination for her first Western and now Hailee Steinfeld is ready to head back to the frontier with Deadline reporting the “True Grit” actress has joined the cast of “The Homesman”, which Tommy Lee Jones co-wrote, will direct and star in. Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, James Spader, John Lithgow and Tim Blake Nelson round out the all-star cast.

Jones, who co-wrote the script with Kieran Fitzgerald and Wesley Oliver, plays a man who teams up with a pioneer woman (Swank) to transport three insane women across the prairie and back into civilization. Steinfeld will play Tabitha Hutchinson, presumably one of the three women, who is a simple-minded, poor and barefoot teenager.

One of our Faces to Watch in 2013, Steinfeld has not been seen on the big screen since her feature film debut in the Coen Brothers’ “True Grit.” But this year we could see her in as many as four movies, starting with the sure thing: Gavin Hood’s adaptation of “Ender’s Game”, set for release in November. She’s also got Carlo Carlei’s new version of “Romeo and Juliet”, musical drama “Can a Song Save Your Life?” and romantic comedy “Hateship, Friendship” awaiting solid release dates.

First Look At Hailee Steinfeld In New Image From “Ender’s Game”

February 20, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

endersgame002sm Taking a slow and steady approach to marketing, today we have a new image from Gavin Hood’s adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s seminal sci-fi novel “Ender’s Game”, and it features Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin as well as our first look at Hailee Steinfeld, in her female lead role of Petra Arkranian.

We first saw Butterfield’s Ender in December, facing off against Harrison Ford as the stern Colonel Graff. In this futuristic world, Ender, Petra and other children attend Battle School, and Ender’s superior intellect eventually leads to him commanding an army of other exceptionally bright children in a simulated fight against the alien race of Formics.

Hood worked extensively with Card, who also adapted the screenplay from his own novel. “I am a fan,” Hood told EW back in December, “and I have had a desire to do this and have been working on this now for nearly four years.”

“Ender’s Game” will be released on November 1, 2013 and the full still can be viewed below.

Up and Comers Presents: 20 Faces to Watch in 2013

January 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Features 17 Comments

After a somewhat unpredictable year in which the stars we expected to break out largely didn’t but fresh faces came out of nowhere to surprise us all, we are ready to look ahead to the new talent waiting to be discovered in 2013. It’s looking like a strong year with plenty of hopeful action stars ready to debut to the world for the first time and some who have been quietly working hard finally seeing their films released. As always, there’s a mix of names you’ve never heard of with some who are ready to hit another level in their rising career, so without further ado, here are 20 names and faces we will be watching this year.

Faces to Watch: The Girls | Faces to Watch: The Guys

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Amber Heard joins Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld in “Three Days to Kill”

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

Amber Heard has joined the cast of McG-directed thriller “Three Days to Kill”, according to Variety. Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld have the lead roles as estranged father and daughter.

Luc Besson and Adi Hasak co-wrote the film, which follows Costner as a terminally ill Secret Service agent who attempts to compete one final mission and reconnect with his estranged daughter (Steinfeld) all while taking an experimental drug treatment that produces hallucinatory side effects. Heard will play the woman who offers him access to the experimental drug which could save his life, in exchange for his final mission.

Heard came 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. She recently wrapped up indie “Syrup” opposite Shiloh Fernandez as well as corporate espionage thriller “Paranoia” opposite Liam Hemsworth and Robert Rodriguez’s horror sequel “Machete Kills.”

First Look: Asa Butterfield stands at attention in first photo from “Ender’s Game”

December 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 1 Comment

Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford face off in our first look at a scene from Gavin Hood’s highly anticipated of Orson Scott Card’s seminal sci-fi novel “Ender’s Game.”

EW debuted the image this morning, describing it as a scene that takes place early on in Ender’s (Butterfield) time at the Battle School, where he is a new recruit. Ford’s Colonel Graff is questioning Ender over his e-mail exchanges with the family he left behind. This futuristic sci-fi tale sees Ender leading an army of other exceptionally bright children in a simulated fight against the alien race of Formics. The cast also includes Hailee Steinfeld as Ender’s most trusted ally and Abigail Breslin as his older sister.

Hood worked extensively with Card, who also adapted the screenplay from his own novel. “I am a fan,” Hood tells EW, “and I have had a desire to do this and have been working on this now for nearly four years.” He also hints that the book’s ending (to which I’m not privy, having never read it) remains in tact. “That ending — and the complex moral questions that it raises — is one of the reasons why I love the book. I promise you that it is very much there.”

“Ender’s Game” will be released on November 1, 2013 and the full still can be viewed below.

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