Young “Gatsby” Callan McAuliffe Rebels Against “Our Robot Overlords”

May 9, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

callan-mcauliffe Rising Australian teen actor Callan McAuliffe has landed the lead role in sci-fi thriller “Our Robot Overlords”, according to THR. Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson were previously set to co-star.

Jon Wright will direct the film which is set in the midst of a war between humans and robots. McAuliffe plays a teen who gathers a group of other kids to help him search for his long lost father, discovering a way to fight back against the robots in the process and learning there’s more to the war (and the world) than his own family problems. What is with all these future worlds popping up where the very survival of the human race depends on some angst-filled teenager? Anyway, filming begins in Ireland on June 3 with a $21 million budget.

McAuliffe made his American film debut as the star of Rob Reiner’s “Flipped” and also appeared alongside Alex Pettyfer in “I Am Number Four.” He’ll be seen as a young Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” starting tomorrow. He’s wrapped indie “Beneath the Harvest Sky” (formerly titled “Blue Potato”) and is currently filming “Kite” opposite Samuel L. Jackson.

Lucas Till, Jeremy Irvine and Alex Pettyfer vying for “Divergent” male lead opposite Shailene Woodley

January 8, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 6 Comments

Shailene Woodley is still searching for her Four. Two months after she tested opposite a quartet of young leading men, director Neil Burger and the filmmakers behind “Divergent” are still looking for the perfect male lead. Variety reports today that a trio of guys will test opposite Woodley later this week, and the contenders are Lucas Till, Jeremy Irvine and Alex Pettyfer.

Till is the only holdver from the guys who tested in November, so it seems fair to say Brenton Thwaites, Luke Bracey and Jack Reynor did not make the cut, while Variety is careful to point out that Till may have a slight advantage over his new competitors but there are no clear frontrunners just yet. Woodley plays Tris Prior, whose futuristic dystopic world is one in which society is divided into factions (Dauntless, Abnegation, Amity, Candor, and Erudite), and each person is sorted into each faction based on a personality test that determines their dominant character traits. Born into the selfless faction Abnegation, Tris shocks her family when she opts to join Dauntless, the brave, instead. There she meets Four, a fellow Abnegation defector who has now taken on a leadership role in their new faction. Four is stand offish, mysterious and super hot. Well, of course. In any case, they discover they have bigger problems to worry about than their burgeoning romance. The film is scheduled to begin shooting in Chicago this spring for a March 21, 2014 release.

Till is perhaps best known for his role as Havok in “X-Men: First Class” (he’s not yet confirmed to return for its sequel, and scheduling conflicts would surely arise if he landed “Divergent”). He will next be seen Chan-wook Park’s “Stoker” opposite Mia Wasikowska and recently wrapped up shooting on “Paranoia” opposite Liam Hemsworth. Irvine was hand-picked by Steven Spielberg to star in his Oscar-nominated “War Horse” and also recently played Pip in a new adaptation of “Great Expectations.” He recently wrapped up shooting “The Railway Man”, in which he plays the younger version of Colin Firth. Pettyfer, who’s had YA adaptation experience thanks to his starring role in “I Am Number Four”, most recently headlined Steven Soderbergh’s sleeper hit “Magic Mike” opposite Channing Tatum. He recently wrapped up shooting on Lee Daniels’ “The Butler.”

Aussie actor Callan McAuliffe to lead coming of age indie “Blue Potato”

August 1, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Seventeen year old Australian actor Callan McAuliffe continues to leave his mark on Hollywood, with Variety now reporting he has taken the lead role in coming of age indie drama “Blue Potato.”

The Aron Gaudet-directed film revolves around two teenage boys and their last summer working the potato harvest in Aroostook County, Maine. Kiefer Sutherland’s daughter Sara Jude Sutherland has also been cast as McAuliffe’s love interest, and filming begins next week in Maine.

McAuliffe made his American film debut as the star of Rob Reiner’s “Flipped” and also appeared alongside Alex Pettyfer in “I Am Number Four.” He’ll next be seen as a young Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby.”

Alex Pettyfer heading to “Cali” with Kristen Stewart

July 25, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Kristen Stewart has found her partner in crime in British actor Alex Pettyfer. Variety reports Pettyfer has landed the male lead and will play opposite Stewart in gritty indie actioner “Cali”, scheduled to begin filming later this summer under the direction of Nick Cassavetes.

Stewart and Pettyfer will play a pair of Southern Californian lovebirds who have become rich and successful through some not so savory or legal means. After making and selling a fake snuff film starring Stewart’s character Mya, the two drive off into the sunset, only to be forced to return “from the dead” years later to face the people they scammed when Mya’s sister gets into trouble. Stewart has revealed she will be blonde and tan in the film, a far cry from the pale, brunette Bella Swan that has made her an international superstar. “I’m going to get into the best shape of my life,” she told Women’s Wear Daily magazine. “I’m going to look like a stripper. I’m going to looks like a porn star.” Michael Diliberti wrote the script.

Pettyfer, who gained fame and notoriety from teen fare like “I Am Number Four” and “Beastly”, was most recently seen in Steven Soderbergh’s sleeper summer hit “Magic Mike”, and is committed to indie thriller “Diamond Dogs”, as well as Lee Daniels’ historical drama “The Butler.”

“Glee” star Dianna Agron to play Robert De Niro’s daughter in thriller “Malavita”

July 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Out of the cast of Fox’s hit musical series “Glee”, our eye has always been on Dianna Agron as the potential breakout star, and it appears more than ever that she may indeed be graduating to a bright film career: THR reports Agron has landed a role playing daughter to Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in Luc Bensson’s mob drama “Malavita.”

Based on the darkly comedic novel “Badfellas” by Tonino Benacquista, “Malavita” will follow an American family who moves to the Normandy region of France. They seem normal, but it’s soon revealed the father, played by De Niro, is actually an American mob boss in Witness Protection, who “can’t stop his Mafia ways and begins to impose his will on the small unsuspecting town he lives in. His actions eventually attracts the mob he squealed on.”

Agron is expected to return to “Glee” in its new season, but likely not full time or for every episode. She’s appeared on screen in “Burlesque” and “I Am Number Four”, though those turned out to be duds, and she’s still for that breakout role after losing out on the ones she was shortlisted for, including Gwen Stacy in “The Amazing Spider-Man” and Warner Bros’ “The Seventh Son.”

Lee Daniels casts Alex Pettyfer in “The Butler”

June 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Lee Daniels has had his eye on Alex Pettyfer for a while. He wanted to cast him in “The Paperboy” over a year ago, but scheduling ultimately couldn’t be worked out and the role, for better or worse, went to Zac Efron. Now it appears the time is right for the actor and director to finally work together, as Deadline reports Pettyfer has joined the all-star cast of Daniels’ next, “The Butler.”

Pettyfer will play the supporting role of Thomas Westphall amongst a cast that already includes Forest Whitaker, David Oyelowo, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Oprah Winfrey, Minka Kelly, Cuba Gooding Jr, Terrance Howard, and Lenny Kravitz. Whitaker plays Eugene Allen, the White House butler who started out as an entry level “pantry man” in pre-Civil Rights 1952 to serving eight presidents over 30 years and witnessing firsthand such historical events as the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. Pettyfer’s Westphall “appears early in the life of Forest Whitaker’s character and has a pivotal influence on the rest of that character’s life.” Filming begins in mid-July.

Pettyfer, who gained fame and notoriety from teen fare like “I Am Number Four” and “Beastly”, will soon be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s LA Film Festival closer “Magic Mike”, and is committed to indie thriller “Diamond Dogs.”

Alex Pettyfer to lead thriller “Diamond Dogs”

May 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

“Magic Mike” star Alex Pettyfer will headline indie drama “Diamond Dogs”, according to Variety.

Pascal Chaumeil, who is gearing up to shoot “A Long Way Down” with Emile Hirsch and Imogen Poots, will direct Pettyfer as a popular high school student whose life spirals out of control when he accidentally kills someone, a crime his father then tries to cover up. The search is currently on for a high profile actor to play the teen’s sheriff father. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alan Watt.

British thesp Pettyfer had been deemed the Next Big Thing a year or two back on the cusp of “I Am Number Four” and “Beastly” being released, but both movies tanking at the box office, coupled with tabloid rumors of the young actor’s bad attitude, put a halt to his on-the-verge career. A bounce back could be in the near future though, as Steven Soderbergh’s male stripper buddy dramedy “Magic Mike” is set for release in June, with positive buzz already going strong.

Young “Gatsby” Callan McAuliffe joins “Paradise Lost”

September 28, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Teen Aussie up and comer Callan McAuliffe is the latest to board Alex Proyas’ 3D battle epic “Paradise Lost”, according to Variety. McAluliffe joins a cast of strapping young men that already includes Bradley Cooper, Benjamin Walker, Casey Affleck and Djimon Hounsou, all of whom are portraying the most iconic of literary and biblical characters. Though they are not as official as the other cast members, “Rock of Ages” star Diego Boneta and Camilla Belle are being eyed for the roles of Adam and Eve.

Walker and Cooper will face off in what is described as “the war that began all wars”, beginning with Lucifer’s banishment from Heaven. He then builds his own army to battle Michael’s forces of good, leading to three major battle scenes that take place in Heaven, Hell and eventually Eden. McAuliffe is signing on to play Uriel, one of the first seven archangels created by God; a dedicated soldier who becomes Michael’s second in command after Lucifer’s banishment and Michael is named commander of Heaven’s army.

Sixteen year old McAuliffe made his American feature debut just last year in Rob Reiner’s “Flipped” and recently starred alongside Alex Pettyfer and Dianna Agron in alien action flick “I Am Number Four.” He’s currently down under in his native Australia playing the young version of Jay Gatsby – played in his adult years by Leonard DiCaprio – for fellow countryman Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.”

“I Am Number Four” star Callan McAuliffe joins Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”

August 30, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Baz Luhrmann continues his love affair with his native country with the casting of yet another Australian actor in his 3D adaptation of quintessentially New York novel “The Great Gatsby.” Variety reports newcomer Callan McAuliffe has been cast as the younger version of Leonardo DiCaprio’s mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, joining a cast that also includes Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Tobey Maguire.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Roaring 1920′s set story follows Jay Gatsby and his undying yearning for the girl who got away, Daisy. She promised to wait for him when he went off to war, but ended up marrying the boorish and abusive Tom Buchanan instead. Tom has his own mistress and all their lives intertwine at Gatsy’s fabulous and elaborate parties. McAuliffe will presumably play Gatsby (or rather James Gatz, before he changed his name) in flashback scenes, revealing the millionaire’s humble beginnings and ever present longing for wealth and standing.

Matthew Goode and Alex Pettyfer go into “Overdrive”

May 13, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Looks like Alex Pettyfer is bouncing back quickly after a disappointing start to 2011 amid disappointing box office and tabloid rumors running amuck. Variety reports from Cannes that the young thesp is in talks to join “Overdrive”, a high voltage action thriller which will pair him with fellow Brit Matthew Goode. This news comes just one day after it was announced director Steven Soderbergh had hand-picked Pettyfer to star opposite Channing Tatum in his male stripper project “Magic Mike”, based on a summer from Tatum’s own adolescence.

In “Overdrive”, Pettyfer and Goode will play handsome, jet-setting brothers who are known for being high profile car thieves. When they travel to the South of France in search of their next adrenaline rush, they are thwarted by a tough local crime boss. Written by “3:10 to Yuma” scribes Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, the film is a passion project for producer Pierre Morel, who directed “Taken”. ” ‘Overdrive’ is an action flick with brains and a great dose of humor, mixing elements of ‘Point Break’ and ‘The Hangover,’ ” said studio exec Gregoire Melin.

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