Ansel Elgort Is Augustus Waters in "The Fault in Our Stars" Opposite Shailene Woodley

From siblings to star-crossed lovers! EW reports rising star Ansel Elgort has been offered the male lead in "The Fault in Our Stars" opposite Shailene Woodley - who plays his sister in the currently-filming dystopian adaptation "Divergent." The two Read more

Dylan O'Brien Lands "The Maze Runner" Lead; Ki Hong Lee Also Joins

UPDATE: Director Wes Ball tweets that Ki Hong Lee has also joined the cast as Minho, a fellow Glader and ally to Thomas throughout the series. Lee is probably best known as a regular on short-lived ABC Family Read more

Shailene Woodley Confirmed for "The Fault in Our Stars"

I mean, duh, we called it. It has now been officially confirmed with glowing quotes from director, producer and author in tow that the increasingly in demand Shailene Woodley will play the lead role of Hazel Grace Lancaster Read more

Up and Comers Presents: 20 Faces to Watch in 2013

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 Read more

Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2012

Another year, another new crop of fresh talent. Just like last year, the hardest part is narrowing down which of the dozens of the year's rising stars shone the brightest. This year we heralded the arrival of the unlikeliest Read more
•••••

mississippi wild

Juno Temple replaces Dakota Fanning, heads for the “Wild Side” with Nicholas Cage and Johnny Knoxville

May 8, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Looks like Juno Temple has become the de facto go-to replacement for Dakota Fanning. She’s already set to take on Fanning’s vacated role in “Girls Night Out”, and now Deadline reports Temple will also be taking over on “Wild Side”, formerly “Mississippi Wild”, which Fanning was attached to in early 2011. The entire original cast, in fact, which included Forest Whitaker, Mickey Rourke and Robert Duvall, are out, and joining Temple instead will be Nicholas Cage and Johnny Knoxville.

Temple will play Lila Belle Clyde, a Southern small town beauty queen who gets her hands on a stash of stolen diamonds and attempts to make off with them in order to leave New Orleans behind, forcing her to “elude authorities, a dogged news reporter, and Odel, a self described wolf determined to hunt her down and recover his swag.” Cage will play Odel, the murderous thief who stole the diamonds in the first place. Jesse Baget will direct the road trip drama from a script he wrote with Stefania Moscato. Filming begins on July 23 in Louisiana.

Temple is one of our Faces to Watch in 2012 and recently premiered indie romance “Jack and Diane” at the Tribeca Film Festival. She is currently filming indie drama “Truck Stop” and will then jump to thriller “Magic Magic” opposite Michael Cera and Emily Browning. She will be seen in Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises” and plays Amanda Seyfried’s best friend in pornstar biopic “Lovelace.”

Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine decide “Now Is Good”

May 15, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 10 Comments

Dakota Fanning will spend the time she has left on earth with Jeremy Irvine, according to Screen Daily, who reports that the two young stars will topline “Now Is Good”, based on Jenny Downham’s novel “Before I Die”, about a terminally ill teenage girl’s desire to experience life to the fullest before she dies.

Ol Parker will direct and Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams will co-star alongside the youngsters, presumably playing Fanning’s parents who struggle with setting limits on a teenager with so little time to experience things like sex, drugs and adventure. Irvine will most likely play the boy next door with whom she falls in love, though no further details are given.

Irvine is the famously hand-picked star of Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated “War Horse” and will next take on Charles Dickens’ iconic young hero Pip in Mike Newell’s new adaptation of “Great Expectations”. Fanning took a brief hiatus for the sake of her education but is now back in full force, recently signing on for “Very Good Girls” opposite Elizabeth Olsen. She is currently filming “The Motel Life” opposite Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff and will next head to the deep South for “Mississippi Wild”, a jewelry robbery actioner starring Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker.

Dakota Fanning lives “The Motel Life” and goes on the run in “Mississippi Wild”

February 16, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Just a couple of months ago, all signs pointed to Dakota Fanning leaving showbiz for a while to concentrate on finishing up high school, even leaving the adaptation of “If I Stay” to do so. But it appears the “Twilight” star just can’t stay away, and she has now signed on to two new projects, in addition to “Girls Night Out”, which was finalized last week. Variety reports Fanning will star in both “The Motel Life” opposite Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff, and “Mississippi Wild” opposite Ryan Donowho.

Fanning will shoot “The Motel Life” first, this month. Hirsch and Dorff play brothers Frank and Jerry Lee, who live in cheap motels and survive on odd jobs, until an accident forces them to flee out of fear that the police would prosecute them. Directed by Alan and Gabe Polsky and adapted from the novel by Willy Vlautin, Fanning’s role might logically be that of Annie James, Frank’s girlfriend who is forced into prostitution by her mother.

In “The Mississippi Wild”, filming in March, Fanning would play girlfriend to Donowho, and together they are teens on the run after stealing some jewelry that belonged to a local gangster. Mickey Rourke is in talks to play the gangster and Forest Whitaker a rival gangster who is after Rourke’s character. Robert Duvall is also signing on in an unspecified role.

Both roles would seem to be departures for the angelic Fanning, although she was already headed down a darker path when she portrayed drugged up rock-n-roll sex symbol Cherie Curie in last year’s indie “The Runaways”. She’ll next be seen in the final two installments of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”.