“Haywire” star Gina Carano first member of all-female “Expendables” team

September 24, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Gina Carano certainly is establishing herself as a go-to female action star ever since being hand-picked by Steven Soderbergh to headline “Haywire.” In unsurprising news, Variety reports Carano is the first to become attached to a much-buzzed about all-female “The Expendables”-esque action flick.

Producer Adi Shankar says, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of ‘The Expendables’ without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba.” Dutch Southern is currently writing the script and filmmakers are talking to various other actresses prominent in the action genre.

Carano was an MMA fighter with Strikeforce when Soderbergh saw her in action and decided to write an action movie for her. Obviously his “Haywire” gamble paid off, as Hollywood is clamoring now to put her in their next action movie. She’s currently filming “Fast Six” opposite Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson, and is also attached to John Stockwell’s “In the Blood”, which sees her as a vengeful wife seeking answers after the disappearance of her husband.

Nikki Reed and Michael Angarano join Liam Hemsworth and Emma Roberts in “Empire State”

May 24, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Liam Hemsworth thriller “Empire State” has rounded out its supporting cast with “Twilight” star Nikki Reed, Michael Angarano, “Entourage”‘s Jerry Ferrera, Paul Ben-Victor and Chris Diamantopoulos, according to Deadline.

Dwayne Johnson and Emma Roberts had already been cast in the heist thriller described to be based on “the true story of a 1982 NYC armored car company robbery thought at the time to be the largest cash heist in U.S. history.” Hemsworth plays one of two friends who pull off the daring heist in the 1980s-set thriller. No word who the other friend may be (our guess is on Angarano), though Roberts will play a waitress and Hemsworth’s love interest, while Diamantopoulo will play a mob boss who suspects the two youngsters while the rest of New York believes it was a major mob conspiracy. Production begins next Tuesday in New York, with Dito Montiel directing from an Adam Mazer script.

Reed appears in the final installment of the “Twilight” saga, “Breaking Dawn: Part II”, this November. Angarano was last seen in Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire” and recently completed two indie comedies, “The Brass Teapot” opposite Juno Temple and “The English Teacher” opposite Julianne Moore and Lily Collins.

“Haywire” star Gina Carano joins Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in “Fast Six”

April 23, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

In a bit of “duh” casting news, THR reports “Haywire” star Gina Carano is in talks to join the 5th sequel in the fastlane thriller franchise “The Fast and the Furious.” “Fast 6″ sees Paul Walker and Vin Diesel again reprising the roles they originated all the way back in the first “Fast and the Furious” movie in 2001, and recent addition Dwayne Johnson is back as well.

Walker and Diesel started off the franchise as enemies on opposite sides of the law during an investigation into illegal street racers hijacking big rigs, and Walker took the first sequel alone and neither starred in the third (though Diesel made a small cameo), they reunited for “Fast and Furious” and then again in last year’s “Fast Five.” The series still has its fans and is still making money, and the stars are still willing to come back for more, so you can’t really blame them for keeping it going. The franchise has also undergone a bit of a makeover, moving away from strictly street racing action to more heist thriller aesthetic. Johnson, who showed up as the duo’s new antagonist in “Fast Five”, will count Carano as one of his team should her deal finalize. Justin Lin, who directed 3, 4 and 5, is back in the director’s chair for “Fast Six.”

When Steven Soderbergh saw Carano fighting in the UFC, he developed “Haywire” as a starring vehicle, and now it appears she’s well on her way to becoming a bona fide action star. In addition to “Fast Six”, she is also attached to star in director John Stockwell’s revenge thriller “In the Blood.”

Michael Fassbender climbs “The Mountain Between Us” in new romanatic drama

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

Looks like Michael Fassbender is in no rush to take a break after an incredible streak of six films releasing in 2011. Variety reports the German actor is attached to star in “The Mountain Between Us”, the 20th Century Fox romantic drama/thriller to be helmed by “Miss Bala” director Gerardo Naranjo.

Fassbender would play a doctor and experienced hiker while the female lead is an attractive and successful journalist, who also happens to be engaged. When the two are stranded by a cancelled flight in Salt Lake City, they charter a private plane, which, of course, goes down in the wilderness when the pilot suffers a heart attack mid-flight. Together with the dead pilot’s dog, the two sole survivors must attempt to survive while doing a little falling in love and making out along the way. The film is based on the novel by Charles Martin and was adapted by J. Mills Goodloe.

After a year that saw the actor in such varied projects as “Jane Eyre”, “X-Men: First Class” and “Shame”, Fassbender is now gearing up to top it with the starring role in Ridley Scott’s Cormac McCarthy scripted “The Counselor” and a third reunion with “Hunger” / “Shame” director Steve McQueen, “Twelve Years a Slave.” He appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire” in January and will be seen opposite Noomi Rapace in Scott’s maybe-Alien-prequel “Prometheus.”

Gina Carano set for a second action role “In The Blood”

February 14, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 2 Comments

“Haywire” star Gina Carano is set to once again showcase her martial arts, and hopefully improve on the acting skills, in a second action thriller “In The Blood“.

Carano was an international mixed martial arts star before being chosen by director Steven Soderbergh to headline “Haywire” after seeing her in action. In “In The Blood”, Carano will play a wife who pursues two men whom she believes to have caused the disappearance of her husband.

The film has been scripted by Bennett Yellin and James Robert Johnston, and will be helmed by John Stockwell.

Director Stockwell told The Hollywood Reporter, “This role will showcase not only Gina’s fighting skills, but also her acting abilities as her character struggles to reign in her violent past.”

Blake Lively and Channing Tatum get married for Steven Soderbergh’s “The Side Effects”

January 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Steven Soderbergh and Channing Tatum appear to be the newest bromance in Hollywood, as The Playlist reports the director-actor duo are now set to reunite for a third time in less than two years. Tatum will join “Gossip Girl” Blake Lively in “The Side Effects”, a psychological thriller that will also co-star Jude Law (another recent Soderbergh collaborator in “Contagion”).

Lively takes another step towards serious acting here as the lead, Emily Hawkins, who turns to prescription medication to cope with anxiety regarding her husband’s (Tatum) upcoming prison release. Law will play her new psychiatrist. There are also several more supporting roles to be cast, and we are betting more Soderbergh alums will pop up.

Tatum hit it off with Soderbergh after working with him on actioner “Haywire”, releasing this week, and the two reunited to develop “Magic Mike”, this summer’s male stripper buddy comedy that was inspired by Tatum’s own experiences as a male stripper when he was just starting out. Tatum will also soon be seen in the Nicholas Sparks-esque “The Vow” opposite Rachel McAdams. Lively, star of The CW’s “Gossip Girl”, now in its fifth season, picked an unfortunate superhero flick as her big breakout (“The Green Lantern” opposite Ryan Reynolds), but has impressed in more serious film roles like “The Town.” She’ll next be seen in Oliver Stone’s highly anticipated “Savages” opposite Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson.

Up and Comers Podcast #4: “The Hunger Games”, dueling Snow Whites and TV actors turned movie stars

November 15, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge and Rebecca Lewis in Podcast 6 Comments

Thank you for joining us again if you listened to our earlier podcasts or if you are new to the program, welcome! Once a week, Linda and Rebecca will take to the internet airwaves to discuss a variety of subjects, including all the latest news, movies we’ve seen recently, the Oscar season and more topics that interest us (or you! Please send us your suggestions for topics to talk about).

• 00:00 – 28:40 – We discuss some of the big news that broke over the past week or so, including that awesome “The Hunger Games” trailer; Jeremy Irvine as Pip in “Great Expectations”; “The Host” casting its two male leads and more.

• 28:45 – 33:20 – A couple of Oscar tidbits/updates; could two of our favorite “longshots” – Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”) and Mia Wasikowska (“Jane Eyre”) – be back in the race?

• 33:20 – 43:40 – We discuss Sundance hit “Another Earth” in depth, INCLUDING (from 35:05 – 38:40) SPECIFIC SPOILERS REGARDING THE ENDING. Please skip this section if you have not seen the film and do not wish to know, in great detail, how it ends.

• 43:40 – 48:15 – Linda discusses, briefly and without spoilers, “Haywire”, “Shame”, “The Adventures of Tin Tin” and “The Kid with a Bike”

• 48:15 – END – In depth discussion about actors who star on currently running TV shows and mapping out a pretty solid movie career at the same time. We discuss Blake Lively and her “Gossip Girl” co-stars, the young risings stars of HBO over on “True Blood” and “Game of Thrones” like Alexander Skarsgard, Dane DeHaan, Kit Harington and more.

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Channing Tatum in talks for crime drama “Foxcatcher” opposite Steve Carell

October 18, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Steve Carell and Channing Tatum: an odd couple on their own and not exactly names synonymous with the word Oscar. But that could change a year from now as The LA Times reports the two are teaming up for starmaking director Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” follow-up: “Foxcatcher”, a true life murder/crime drama. Variety reported on Carell’s casting in September.

In the script by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Carell will play John du Pont, a millionaire heir and sports enthusiast who was also a paranoid schizophrenic and inexplicably shot and killed Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz (Tatum) in 1996. The two were good friends and no motive was ever established for the shooting, which took place at the wrestling training facility called Team Foxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate and was witnessed by Schultz’s wife and du Pont’s head of security. Du Pont locked himself away in his mansion and talked with police negotiators by phone for two days after the shooting. He died in prison last year at the age of 72.

Shooting is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2012.

Tatum will take a turn for the serious and prestigious if his deal closes on “Foxcatcher”, thus far known for lighter commercial fare such as “Step Up”, “Dear John” and “G.I. Joe.” He’ll next be seen in weepy romance drama “The Vow” with Rachel McAdams and two films with Steven Soderbergh: all-star actioner “Haywire” and “Magic Mike”, based on Tatum’s own experiences working as a male stripper at age 19. He’s also got two projects he produced, “Ten Year”, which he premiered at TIFF, and “21 Jump Street”, co-starring Jonah Hill and based on the classic TV series that launched the career of Johnny Depp.

Michael Angarano to romance “English Teacher” Julianne Moore

October 4, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Michael Angarano sure has a thing for older women. After his charming but misguided wooing of Uma Thurman in Max Winkler’s “Ceremony”, the quirky indie actor now has his sights set on Julianne Moore. According to Variety, Angarano has booked the romantic lead in “The English Teacher”, which sees Moore in the title role and also co-stars Nathan Lane.

Craig Zisk directs the film about a small town high school teacher whose world is turned upside down by the return of a former student, whose journey to New York to try to make it as a playwright has ended in failure. Angarano would play the writer, who Moore’s charcter falls for.

Angarano, recently seen in Kevin Smith’s “Red State” and teen comedy “The Art of Getting By” opposite Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts, was shortlisted for Marc Webb’s “Amazing Spider-Man” and always seems just on the verge of something big. He recently wrapped dark comedy “The Brass Teapot” opposite Juno Temple and is part of Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble actioner “Haywire”, starring alongside the likes of Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor.

Michael Angarano and Juno Temple topline dark comedy “The Brass Teapot”

May 15, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Michael Angarano and Juno Temple will weigh desperation against morality in the vein of “The Monkey’s Paw” and “Button, Button” in indie dark comedy/fantasy “The Brass Teapot”, reports Screen Daily from Cannes. The two hot rising stars will play a broke young couple who steal a brass teapot that produces cash every time someone feels pain.

Commercials director Ramaa Mosley makes her feature directorial debut on the film while Tim Macy wrote the screenplay. “We were excited to produce Brass Teapot when it was simply a great script and an ambitious director,” producer Kirk Roos said. “So, it was a super bonus to land an amazing cast on top of an already sexy and smart dark comedy.”

Temple recently landed a pivotal role in Christopher Nolan’s final “Batman” film, “The Dark Knight Rises” and joined the cast of “Magic, Magic” with Michael Cera and Emily Browning. She’ll next be seen as Queen Anne in “The Three Musketeers 3D” and lesbian werewolf thriller “Jack and Diane” opposite fellow up and comer Riley Keough. Angarano was a finalist for the “Spider-Man” reboot and was recently seen in Kevin Smith’s industry-defying horror “Red State” and Max Winkler’s “Ceremony”. He’ll next be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated “Haywire”.

“The Brass Teapot” is gearing up for a July shoot in New York City.

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