Paul Dano and Rooney Mara out, Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning in for indie thriller “Night Moves”

August 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

There will be no “Meek’s Cutoff” reunion after all. After nearly a year, Kelly Reichardt’s eco-terrorist thriller “Night Moves” is getting a bit of a cast makeover as it moves closer to production. Peter Sarsgaard and Paul Dano had been set to play the two male leads, while Rooney Mara was circling the female lead, but now Variety reports Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning will be taking over the roles vacated by Dano and Mara.

The trio of actors will play a group of eco-terrorists who plot to blow up a dam. Eisenberg will be the ringleader, Fanning the rich young girl who funds the project, and Sarsgaard the mastermind behind the plan. Sarsgaard spoke last year of his character’s motivations: “I can understand how my character gets to the point of wanting to blow up a dam. I never want to do this, but I can understand how someone can want to do that. We have a gun pointed to our planet. We see that the demonstrations are not working because they are being tackled with pepper [spray]… so you get the radical movement. I can understand that.” Production is scheduled to begin in October in Oregon.

Eisenberg has stayed busy since getting his first Oscar nomination in David Fincher’s 2010 masterpiece “The Social Network.” After a double dose of indies in “Why Stop Now” and “Free Samples”, Eisenberg starred in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” follow-up, “To Rome With Love”, opposite Ellen Page. He’s currently filming “The Double”, a comedy based on Dostoyevsky’s novella, opposite Mia Wasikowska and will also soon be seen in magician heist thriller “Now You See Me” with Dave Franco. Fanning is currently filming coming-of-age drama “Very Good Girls” opposite Elizabeth Olsen and has wrapped on indies “Now Is Good” (which showed at Cannes and which we didn’t really care for) and “The Motel Life.” She’ll also have one last appearance as vampire villainous Jane in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2″, out in November.

Jeremy Irvine set for “A Night in Old Mexico”

July 23, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

Jeremy Irvine recently wrapped filming on “The Railway Man” with Colin Firth but is jumping straight into another production, joining road movie “A Night in Old Mexico“.

The pic is set to begin shooting today in Texas and it will be the sophomore effort of Spanish director Emilio Aragon. From a script by Bill Wittliff, the film follows the developing relationship between Irvine and his grandfather, to be played by Robert Duvall, and features “action, tragedy and romance.”

Variety reports the film also stars Angie Cepeda, Luis Tosar and Javier Gutierrez.

Irvine was one of 2011′s promising young actors, being discovered by Steven Spielberg to take the lead in the director’s “War Horse” adaptation and then going on to land three other high-profile roles in quick succession, in World War II drama “The Railway Man“, the iconic role of Pip in “Mike Newell’s adap of “Great Expectations“, and joining Dakota Fanning in the “average, melodramatic, teen rom-com” “Now Is Good“.

“War Horse” went on to receive mixed reviews but garnered six Oscar nominations. Irvine has spent recent months in production, with the first stills of “Great Expectations” being released late last year.

Cannes REVIEW: Highly anticipated “Now Is Good” is a disappointing adaptation

May 20, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Reviews 7 Comments

Nearly a year after being cast, Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine‘s “Now Is Good” screened this past week at Cannes Film Festival. One of our most anticipated films of 2012 and based on Jenny Downham’s novel “Before I Die”, the film follows 17 year old Tessa, a terminally ill teenage girl, and her desire to experience life to the fullest before she dies.

It’s a decent performance from Fanning, whose journey from child actress to movie star has been patchy. Fanning’s Tessa is played as mad at the world, unable to come to terms with her illness as she deals with an overbearing father and a mother who can’t deal with her daughter’s imminent death. Unfortunately for Fanning, she is hindered by a poor script which doesn’t allow us to feel any sympathy for Tessa.

Watch: Jeremy Irvine is on Dakota Fanning’s bucket list in first trailer for “Now is Good”

March 2, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

Dakota Fanning’s a terminally ill teenage girl with only a few months to live, and her next door neighbor looks like Jeremy Irvine, so it’s probably not hard to guess what she wants to spend her last days on earth doing. In the Ol Parker directed film based on the novel “Before I Die”, the retitled “Now is Good” chronicles Fanning’s Tessa as she decides to stop treatment on her disease and create a bucket list of things to experience before she dies.

If we go by the first trailer below, that list includes breaking the law, watching the sunrise and sunset, skiing, dating, doing drugs and going skinny dipping. Irvine is there to help her, along with her more adventurous best friend, played by rising British star Kaya Scodelario. Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams will co-star alongside the youngsters as Fanning’s parents who struggle with setting limits on a teenager with so little time to experience life and things that would normally be off-limits to kids without time constraints.

The film will be released in the UK on May 25th with no US release date set just yet. See the first trailer below.

Kaya Scodelario to replace Rooney Mara in “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes”

December 13, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Just yesterday The Playlist uncovered during an interview with the filmmaker that Rooney Mara had dropped out of “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes”, an indie drama that would have reunited her with “Tanner Hall” director Francesca Gregorini. Well, it didn’t take long for the filmmakers to find a replacement, as Variety reports British up and comer Kaya Scodelario will now take the title role instead.

According to Gregorini’s interview with The Playlist, age was the issue that caused Mara to ultimately pass on the project. The character, Emanuel, is a troubled seventeen year old girl who agrees to babysit her strange neighbor’s “baby”, which is in fact just a life-like doll. Meanwhile, the neighbor herself is the spitting image of Emanuel’s dead mother. Though Mara is a youthful-looking 26 and had played teenagers in all her projects prior to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, it’s undeniable that fresh-faced 19 year old Scodelario is a much more natural fit. The project with Mara in the title role had been gearing up for a shoot this past summer, but will now be filmed in early 2012.

Scodelario, a fan favorite on British teen series “Skins”, was amongst many girls who may or may not have come close to landing the role of Katniss in “The Hunger Games”, which went to Jennifer Lawrence. But Scodelario herself had quite a year when she starred as Cathy in Andrea Arnold’s new and innovative retelling of Emily Bronte classic “Wuthering Heights.” She recently wrapped up teen drama “Now is Good” opposite Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine.

First Look: Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine and Kaya Scodelario in first images from “Now is Good”

November 5, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

Filled to the brim with some of our favorite up and comers, “Now is Good” is quickly shaping up to be one of our most anticipated upcoming projects, and today we finally have our first look at the film in the form of official still images and a promotional poster from the American Film Market, courtesy of Collider. Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine and Kaya Scodelario star in the Ol Parker directed film about a terminally ill teenager’s quest to live life to the fullest.

The official synopsis has been released as well:

Tessa is seventeen and passionate about life. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, she determines to use every moment, compiling a catalogue of what normal teenager would experience, including losing her virginity and taking drugs. With the help of her friend, she sets the list in motion. And while her parents and brother each deals with their fear of losing her in their own way, Tessa explores a whole new world, determined to live every day as intensely as possible. Falling in love with Adam, her new neighbor, wasn’t on the list, but it proves to be the most exhilarating experience of them all.

See five images below and head to Collider for high resolution versions and even more.

“War Horse” star Jeremy Irvine joins Colin Firth in WWII drama “The Railway Man”

October 31, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” doesn’t open for another two months, but his young discovery is wasting no time leveraging his breakout status into more high profile roles. Jeremy Irvine, who was plucked from obscurity by Spielberg personally to headline his WWI epic, has now landed his fourth major film role. THR reports Irvine has been cast as a younger version of Colin Firth’s character in World War II drama “The Railway Man.”

Jonathan Teplitzky directs the film based on the true life memoir of Eric Lomax, who, as a prisoner of war, was forced to work on constructing Japan’s Death Railway, a track which connects Bangkok to what is now Yangon, Myanmar. Lomax, an officer in the British army, was tortured by the Japanese for being a spy and later in life was sought to track down one of his torturers. Firth and Irvine will share the duty of portraying Lomax at various stages of his life.

Though he has acted with the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Irvine’s only onscreen credit previous to Spielberg’s discovery was little-known British television series “Life Bites”. Since completing work on “War Horse”, Irvine has also completed filming on teen love story “Now Is Good” opposite Dakota Fanning and is now in production as Pip on Mike Newell’s adaptation of Dickens classic “Great Expectations.” “War Horse” releases in theaters on December 28, 2011.

“Skins” star Kaya Scodelario joins “Now Is Good” opposite Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine

June 26, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

British actress Kaya Scodelario took to Twitter yesterday to announce she has joined the cast of “Now Is Good”, starring Dakota Fanning as a terminally ill teenager who is determined to live her short life to the fullest. Jeremy Irvine stars opposite Fanning as the boy next door with whom she falls in love. 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.

Scodelario sounded ecstatic about the film and has apparently been sitting on the news for a while: “Just been told that I’m aloud 2 tell u guys what my next project is!It’s called Now Is Good and I’ll be working with Dakota Fanning!Excited!” After taking a moment to cringe at the failing British education system, we can begin speculating on what role the young “Skins” star might play. Inevitably, Fanning’s character Tessa is the straight-laced good girl with the complete opposite for a best friend. Scodelario may well likely play Zoey, the more outgoing, reckless and life-of-the-party of the pair.

The 19-year-old Scodelario is most known to audiences for her role as fan favorite Effy on UK teen series “Skins”, and recently was shortlisted for the role of Katniss Everdeen in Gary Ross’s “The Hunger Games”, a role that eventually went to Jennifer Lawrence. However, Scodelario may have her own big breakout moment on film when she headlines Andrea Arnold’s new adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” as Cathy, one half of a tortured couple whose love/hate relationship transcends life and death. The highly anticipated (and highly secretive) film is rumored to be planning an unveiling at one of the many prestigious film festivals rolling out this fall, the most likely being Venice or Toronto.

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.

now is good