Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara join Terrence Malick’s “Lawless”; Isabel Lucas in for “Knight of Cups”

November 1, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

It looks like Terrence Malick is making up for lost time in a big way, after having only directed five films in the past four decades. With “The Tree of Life” recently out, Malick will have up to four projects at various stages of production and release in 2012. Announced today via press release from the American Film Market, Cate Blanchett, Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara have joined Christian Bale and Haley Bennett in “Lawless”, while Aussie up and comer Isabel Lucas has signed on for “Knight of Cups”, which will also co-star Bale and Blanchett.

“Lawless” is that thing Malick, Bale and Bennett were filming at the Austin City Lights Music Festival, though apparently, all of that was pre-production and rehearsal and will probably not end up in the final film. No plot details exist for either project (shocker!) though the press release confirms it’s actually Gosling, not Bale, who is the lead on “Lawless”, while Bale headlines “Knight of Cups.” And while we originally thought Bennett had beaten out Mara for the female lead and that “Lawless” would feature only one pair of leads – one male, one female – that now appears to be in question as well. Both films are in pre-production and will shoot in 2012 back-to-back. On top of this duo, Malick has already completed an untitled romance starring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams (aka “The Burial”) that is awaiting release and a long-gestating documentary “Voyage of Time” that’s still in the development stages.

“Lawless” will mark Mara’s first project since landing the role of a lifetime in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” over a year ago, while Gosling is on something of a hot streak with high profile projects, recently wrapping Derek Cianfrance’s “The Place Beyond the Pines”, currently filming “Gangster Squad” for Ruben Fleischer and gearing up to shoot a remake of “Logan’s Run.” Lucas can be seen as Athena in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals”, releasing on November 11th, and has the remake of “Red Dawn” still patiently waiting for a release date.

‘Twilight’ star Kellan Lutz to star alongside Mickey Rourke once again in indie thriller ‘Java Heat’

October 11, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting Leave a comment

As tween heartthrob Taylor Lautner has left the Twilight Saga ready to be groomed as the next big Hollywood action star – signing on to star in Fox 2000′s futuristic prison society action thriller Incarceron, being considered for the role of David opposite Dwayne Johnson’s Goliath in Director Scott Derrickson’s retelling of the Old Testament tale, and starring in, by all accounts the terrible action-thriller Abduction – fellow Twilight star Kellan Lutz, who has an equal amount of action-hero potential as Lautner, has been quietly forgotten about (probably due to box office duds such as 2010′s A Nightmare on Elm Street remake and the little-seen Love Wedding Marriage.)

Lutz is sure to be hoping for a turn around of luck, with Tarsem Singh’s upcoming Immortals due for release on November 11th, and A Warrior’s Heart (also starring Twilight alum Ashley Greene) due for release in December, and Variety is reporting that Lutz has now boarded Margate House Films’ Java Heat, an indie thriller that “revolves around a mysterious American (Lutz) who teams with a Muslim cop to track down a new breed of klepto-terrorists in Southeast Asia.”

Also starring will be Lutz’s Immortals co-star, Oscar nominated actor Mickey Rourke, who will play a jewel thief, and the mastermind behind the terrorist acts. Java Heat will be directed by Conor Allyn, from a script co-penned with father Rob Allyn, but there is no word yet on when production will begin.

Australian Isabel Lucas joins James Marsden in “Loft”

May 23, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

Australian up and comer Isabel Lucas has been added to the cast of indie thriller Loft, to be directed by Erik Van Looy, who directed the original Belgium film in 2008.

Loft, which also stars Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and James Marsden (Enchanted), tells the story of a group of married friends who rent a loft so that they can have a place to rendezvous with their respective mistresses. Sure enough, drama begins to ensue when the unknown body of a woman is found in the loft leading the friends to become suspicious of each other.
Variety reports state that Lucas will be playing “Sarah, a naive young beauty who unexpectedly comes into the lives of the five friends.”

Lucas first found fame on Australian soap “Home and Away” but since moving to Hollywood has found roles in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and can next be seen alongside Zack Snyder’s chosen Superman, Henry Cavill in the highly anticipated Immortals,

Luke Evans toplines indie horror flick “No One Lives”

May 9, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

He may have lost out on the Bourne reboot, but Luke Evans isn’t struggling to fill his schedule. THR reports from Cannes that the British up and comer will star in indie horror film “No One Lives”, a sort of “The Strangers” in reverse about a gang of criminals who take a young couple into an abandoned house to be tortured, only to have the tables turned on them. Filming will begin on June 13 in New Orleans. No word on who Evans will play or who might join him in the cast. Ryuhei Kitamura, who directed the 2008 horror cult hit “The Midnight Meat Train”, will from a screenplay by David Cohen.

Evans can be seen in two high profile blockbusters later this year, as leader of the Olympians Zeus in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals”, out November 11 (coincidentally, he played a different Greek God, Apollo, in 2010′s “Clash of the Titans”), and as Aramis in a new adaptation of “The Three Musketeers 3D”, out on October 14. Evans is also said be so good in “The Raven” opposite John Cusack that producers developed an action film just for him to star in.

Watch: First trailer for “Immortals” starring Henry Cavill

April 27, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

Looking like “Clash of the Titans” on acid and steroids, director Tarsem Singh turns up the saturated bright colors and glistening bulging muscles of his Greek Gods in the first trailer for “Immortals”. Featuring a new generation of action heroes, the action is led by future Superman Henry Cavill as Theseus, a mortal manipulated by the Greek Gods into battling the mad king Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), who seeks to unleash The Titans, the superpowers that the reigning Olympians banished. The Olympians include Luke Evans as Zeus, Isabel Lucas as Athena and Kellan Lutz as Poseidon while Freida Pinto is also on board as Phaedra, an oracle who can see possible futures, but only if she remains a virgin. This complicates things because, of course, she has a hard time resisting Theseus’s aforementioned glistening muscles.

“Immortals” releases in theaters on November 11, 2011.

Rising British actor Luke Evans is “The Amateur American”

March 11, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

British actor Luke Evans is the next young star with still unproven mettle getting a potential blockbuster built just for him. Deadline reports FilmNation Entertainment has bought and will develop “The Amateur American” as a starring vehicle for Evans, who they are banking on to become one of the next hot young stars to break out in a big way. The action-thriller will be written and directed by Ross Katz, and expected to begin shooting in September. The film will center around Evans, who will play “a young American living in Paris who accepts a job working for a shadowy employer and soon finds himself framed for murder and caught up in a web of deceit.”

Evans follows in the footsteps of names like Taylor Lautner and Alex Pettyfer, who have had studios and producers develop projects around them in recent months, though to this day, neither has showcased any ability to carry a movie. Dreamworks is said to be developing a James Hunt biopic for Pettyfer, though the highly disappointing box office numbers for their projected hit “I Am Number Four” (coupled with even worse numbers for “Beastly”) may make the studio pause for a moment. Lautner, on the other hand, reportedly has many offers on the table but his first feature that doesn’t come with “Twilight”‘s international brand recognition doesn’t open until September. Given Pettyfer’s flops, Lautner seems like a highly risky investment as well.

Evans, at age 32, is a bit older than his tween-friendly counterparts, but age and maturity might given him an edge over the competition, bringing a gravitas and believability to becoming an action hero that both guys and girls, of any age, can root for. The producers reportedly put their faith in Evans after seeing his work in “The Raven”, in which he stars opposite John Cusack. He has also had plenty of action-movie experience, playing Apollo in “Clash of the Titans”, Zeus” in the upcoming “Immortals” and Aramis in “The Three Musketeers”. On top of that, his impressive dramatic chops are also on full display as the kind and grounded Andy opposite Gemma Arterton in “Tamara Drewe”.

Our money is on Evans.

First Look: Henry Cavill, Kellan Lutz and Freida Pinto in “Immortals”

February 10, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 4 Comments

Before you see Henry Cavill suit up as the Man of Steel in Zack Snyder’s “Superman”, you can see him in a more ancient superhero role, as Theseus in this fall’s ancient Greek epic “Immortals”. EW has the first stills from the film, which you can see below.

Theseus is a mortal manipulated by the Greek Gods, including Luke Evans as Zeus and Kellan Lutz as Poseidon (seen below), into battling the mad king Hyperion (Mickey Rourke, also pictured below), who seeks to unleash The Titans, the superpowers that the reigning Olympians banished. We also have our first look at Freida Pinto in the role of Phaedra, an oracle who can see possible futures, but only if she remains a virgin. ”She’s conflicted,” director Tarsem Singh tells EW. “Her ability helps Theseus, but it also prevents her from being the fully realized woman she wants to be.”

Pinto is most known for her role in 2008′s Oscar steamroller “Slumdog Millionaire” and also has “Miral” awaiting release. Lutz can drum up almost as many teen screams as Robert Pattinson wherever he goes due to his role as Emmett, Edward’s vampire brother, in the “Twilight” movies. And you’re probably very familiar with Cavill’s resume by now, but previous to becoming Clark Kent, he was most known for the hit Showtime series “The Tudors”.

“Immortals” clashes into theaters on November 11, 2011.

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