Dominic Cooper to Face Off Against Luke Evans’ “Dracula”

May 8, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

dominic-cooper British actor Dominic Cooper is in talks to join Luke Evans and Sarah Gadon in origin tale “Dracula”, according to Variety.

Gary Shore is making his directorial debut on the long-gestating project formerly titled “Dracula: Year Zero”, which sees Evans as a young Prince Vlad who offers up his soul to a bloodthirsty sultan in exchange for the lives of his wife (Gadon) and child, and thus becomes the world’s first vampire. There’s no word on who Cooper will play, but with the isolated nature of a character such as Dracula, an adversary of some sort is probably the most logical conclusion. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the latest draft of the script and filming will begin soon with a tentpole-friendly August 8th, 2014 release date already set.

This will not be Cooper’s first brush with vampires, as he played one in “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” opposite Benjamin Walker’s axe-wielding 16th President. He was last seen in revenge thriller “Dead Man Down” and the Oscar-nominated “My Week with Marilyn” as well as “Captain America: The First Avenger”, and has recently wrapped shooting on another 2014 potential blockbuster, video game adaptation “Need for Speed” opposite Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots.

Long-Gestating “The Crow” Remake Lands on Luke Evans

May 4, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

After circling Tom Hiddleston and Alexander Skarsgard, it appears “The Crow” has finally landed. Deadline reports the long-gestating gothic thriller remake has snagged British rising star Luke Evans for the lead role, who apparently had been director F. Javier Gutierrez’s first choice all along.

Evans will take on the role of Eric Draven, a rock star brutally murdered while trying to protect his fiance from a gang of thugs. He is resurrected by supernatural forces and seeks revenge. The original film starring Brandon Lee – itself adapted from comics by James O’Barr – spawned three sequels but with a different victim and resurrection each time. Gutierrez had always preferred Evans for the role, reports Deadline, but the increasingly busy actor had appeared unavailable. The filmmaker is so keen on his choice actor, in fact, that production on the film will now be pushed to early 2014 in order to accommodate Evans’ schedule.

Evans has been steadily building up a high profile resume, recently seen in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals”, Edgar Allen Poe inspired murder mystery “The Raven” opposite John Cusack and has the villain role in Universal’s “Fast Six”, which led to his first leading role in the studio’s “Dracula” origin tale film, which he will shoot next opposite Sarah Gadon. He also plays Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” trilogy and headlined indie horror “No One Lives.”

Sarah Gadon in Talks to Be Wooed by Luke Evans’ “Dracula”

May 2, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting Leave a comment

As “Dracula” gears up for production after years in development, Universal is building a strong cast of rising stars to lead the origin tale. Luke Evans signed on earlier last month as the titular character, and now Sarah Gadon is in talks to star as the main female character.

Variety reports that the Gary Shore-directed film, from a revised script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, will be “a mix of mythology and history”, following a young Prince Vlad, (who was the inspiration for Stoker’s Dracula) who offers his soul up to a bloodthirsty sultan when his wife and child are threatened, becoming the world’s first vampire.

Gadon is a favourite of the Cronenberg’s, starring in David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” last year with Robert Pattinson, as well as taking the lead in Brandon Cronenberg‘s body-horror pic “Antiviral” – both of which premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. The Canadian actress has a busy year ahead of her as she will next be seen in psychological thriller “An Enemy“, is expected to premiere BAFTA winning director Amma Asante’s true life historical drama, “Belle”, and will reunite with Pattinson and the elder Cronenberg on “Map to the Stars“.

Luke Evans To Star in “Dracula” (Formerly “Dracula: Year Zero”)

April 8, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

British rising star Luke Evans is ready to put the second part of that moniker to the test, as THR reports he has landed his first starring studio role, as the titular original vampire in “Dracula: Year Zero.” Gary Shore is making his directorial debut on the film, which at one point had Sam Worthington attached to the lead role.

But it’s now Evans who will star in the origin tale, which sees Dracula as a young Prince who offers his soul up to a bloodthirsty sultan when his wife and child are threatened, becoming the world’s first vampire (because they’re soulless, ya know). Thought the project has been in development for years, it’s finally received an official green light and will begin filming this year.

Evans has been steadily building up a high profile resume, recently seen in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals”, Edgar Allen Poe inspired murder mystery “The Raven” opposite John Cusack and has the villain role in Universal’s “Fast Six”, where he likely eared the goodwill of the studio to get cast in “Dracula.” He also plays Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” trilogy and headlined indie horror “No One Lives.”

Luke Evans offered villain role in “Fast Six” opposite Paul Walker and Vin Diesel

May 2, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Is Luke Evans the new Jason Statham? In a manner of speaking, perhaps. While reports had been swirling that the British action star was being courted for a role in Justin Lin’s “Fast Six” – yes, that’s the fifth sequel to “The Fast and the Furious” franchise – Twitch Film now reports it’s Statham’s fellow UKer Evans who has been officially offered the role of the film’s villain. As it’s just an offer at this stage, Evans’ involvement in the film is nowhere near certain.

The franchise that stars Paul Walker and Vin Diesel began in 2001 revolving around illegal street tracing, with Walker and Diesel on opposite sides of the law. That’s evolved nicely into a partnership between the two as they team up against various foes and the series has been in a state of transition over the past couple of films, taking the duo and their friends and foes from street racing to more general heist thriller/action scenarios. Dwayne Johnson hopped aboard the franchise in “Fast Five” as a new foe, and “Haywire” star Gina Carano will be part of his team for “Fast Six.” Evans will presumably be on neither team though, and will instead be a bigger foe for both Walker/Diesel and Johnson/Carano.

Evans has been steadily building up a high profile resume, recently seen in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals” and Edgar Allen Poe inspired murder mystery “The Raven” opposite John Cusack, but his biggest break yet may come later this year when he plays Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

Jessica Brown Findlay lands “Winter’s Tale”; Aaron Johnson and Garrett Hedlund front-runners for male lead

March 21, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Now that the project is officially a go at Warner Bros, Akiva Goldsman is moving fast on his passion project, a big budget adaptation of Mark Helprin’s 1983 fantasy novel “Winter’s Tale”, and today Deadline reports he has cast his leading lady. “Downton Abbey” star Jessica Brown Findlay beat out the likes of Bella Heathcote and Lily Collins to land the role of Beverly Penn, while the lead role of young thief Peter Lake currently has two front-runners, Aaron Johnson and Garrett Hedlund. Last we heard, Tom Hiddleston and Benjamin Walker were testing for the role, but it appears Goldsman has skewed a bit younger.

UPDATED: Variety reports it is Hiddleston and Luke Evans who have the “inside track” on the Peter Lake role, while Hedlund and Johnson aren’t mentioned at all.

The film takes place in a New York City that is markedly different from the island as we know it. It takes place in the 19th Century and follows Peter, who became a thief out of necessity following a bad childhood, only to end up estranged from the group and making a mortal enemy of its leader, Pearly Soames. On a house robbery, Peter meets and falls for the terminally ill Beverly Penn. She becomes the catalyst and the force of change in his life. Another major character is a mythical flying white horse, Athansor, who acts as Peter’s guardian. Russell Crowe has committed to playing the role of Soames, along with Will Smith, who will cameo as a judge. Oscar winning screenwriter Goldsman will make his directorial debut on the project, which has a start date of October 15th in New York.

Findlay is most known to American audiences for her series regular role as Lady Sybil on hit PBS/BBC production “Downtown Abbey”, which follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants early in the reign of King George V. She has also appeared on teen favorite “Misfits” and can be seen in a starring role in British indie drama “Albatross” opposite Felicity Jones.

Kit Harington’s competition for “Arthur and Lancelot” include “Game of Thrones” co-star and Luke Evans

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

Kit Harington is still in the game! After the not-so-promising development of Joel Kinnaman being the only one cast in “Arthur and Lancelot” after he tested with the “Game of Thrones” star in London, THR reports Harington could still have a shot. Kinnaman is in negotiations for Lancelot and will be doing chemistry tests with potential Arthurs, including Harington – again. Joining in the competition this time around are Harington’s “Thrones” co-star Richard Madden and fellow British actors Luke Evans and Toby Kebbell.

Director David Dobkin’s vision for the new adaptation of the Camelot legend remains vague with no plot details revealed, though he did tell The Playlist over the summer, “I pulled the legend apart. I only kept a few things. I kept certain characters, I recreated the entire launch of the legend and why it starts the way that it starts, I don’t want to give away too much but it’s always had a flaw. I pulled the flaws out, I reinvented the characters as grounded characters. I took a much more realistic and grounded approach towards everybody, you know why would this character be this way and why would this character be that way? You know Arthur’s superpower is compassion and vision. I will tell you this, the whole thing is wrapped around the birth of democracy as a concept and it’s positing Arthur as the first man to say all men are created equal.”

There’s no way of telling whether Harington has an edge over the others just joining the fray. He is also in contention for another high profile film, Andrew Niccol’s “The Host”, based on the novel by “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer and starring Soairse Ronan. Harington’s “Thrones” co-star Madden was recently named a Star of Tomorrow by UK’s Screen International, and is currently shooting miniseries “Birdsong” opposite Eddie Redmayne and Clemence Poesy. Evans is one of Britain’s biggest rising stars, often shortlisted for high profile projects including “The Bourne Legacy” and “The Great Gatsby.” He’ll next be seen in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals.” Kebbell will be seen in a different Greek gods epic, “Wrath of the Titans” opposite Sam Worthington and recently joined the cast of “The East”, co-written by and starring Brit Marling.

Watch: Luke Evans and Alice Eve in “The Raven” trailer

October 7, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

Those of you in attendance at Comic-Con in July have seen it already, but Relativity Media has finally put online the first trailer for historical murder mystery “The Raven”, starring John Cusack as the famous mustached crime novel writer Edgar Allen Poe whose grisly stories prove to be the source of inspiration for a mysterious new serial killer. Sort of a “Sleepy Hollow” / “From Hell” feel here as Poe teams up with a dogged detective, played by Luke Evans, in a race against the clock to find the killer and stop him before he kills Poe’s kidnapped beloved, played by Alice Eve.

Director James McTeigue and the cast revealed at Comic-Con that the story follows the last four days of Poe’s life, so there’s not a fully happy ending in store, though the action and the mystery still seems intriguing and the release of the trailer to coincide with the anniversary of Poe’s death is clever. The film also stars one of our favorite British up and comers Oliver Jackson-Cohen in a supporting role.

“The Raven” will be released on March 9, 2012.

First Look: Luke Evans creeps up in first still image from horror “No One Lives”

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

British up and coming actor Luke Evans goes for a midnight swim and maybe a murder or two in our first look at “No One Lives”, sort of a “The Strangers” / “Straw Dogs” / “Last House on the Left” hybrid wherein a gang of ruthless killers take a wealthy roadtripping couple hostage in the middle of nowhere to torture , only to have the tables turned on them.

“No One Lives” is director Ryuhei Kitamura’s follow-up to cult horror classic “Midnight Meat Train” and Evans co-stars with fellow up and comers Adelaide Clemens, Laura Ramsay, Beau Knapp and Derek Magyar. There’s no word on who Evans plays, but considering his character’s name is Driver, we can presume he’s the vengeance-seeking male half of the kidnapped duo.

Shock ‘Til You Drop has the first ever image from the indie horror – seen below – that will be released sometime in 2012.

Max Irons, Elle Fanning and Claire Foy join biopic “Vivaldi” about famed Italian composer

May 27, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

British up and comers Max Irons and Claire Foy are among the actors joining a new biopic of 17th Century Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, who was most famous for writing “The Four Seasons”. Screen Daily reports Elle Fanning is also in advance negotiations to join the film, along with Neve Campbell, Jacqueline Bisset, Tom Wilkinson, Alfred Molina and Sebastian Koch.

“Vivaldi” follows the true story of genius and priest Vivaldi turned a group of courtesans’ young daughters into a world class orchestra who eventually even played in front of the Pope. Presumably, though no roles were specified, Irons would play Vivaldi while Fanning a standout member of the orchestra.

And because apparently no movie can go into production without some sort of rival nipping at its heels, there is indeed another Vivaldi film being planned, and names like Luke Evans, Jessica Biel and Sir Ben Kingsley are being bandied about as possible cast members. That film will center around the composer’s alleged forbidden love for opera singer Anna Tessiero Giro.

Irons, son of Jeremy, broke out as one of two suitors vying for Amanda Seyfried’s affections amidst vicious werewolf attacks in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Twilight” follow-up, “Red Riding Hood”. Foy was recently seen in the Nicholas Cage dud “Season of the Witch”. Fanning, on the other hand, has a thriving current and upcoming slate of projects, including JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg’s “Super 8″ and Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought a Zoo”.

Filming on Boris Damast’s long-gestating “Vivaldi” will begin in September, with shooting locations including Venice, Bruges, Hungary and Germany.

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