Elizabeth Olsen joins Aaron Johnson in negotiating to headline “Godzilla” reboot

February 6, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

The script is still being finalized, but Gareth Edwards and the “Godzilla” reboot producers are moving full steam ahead on casting to prepare for a scheduled March production start. Today Variety reports Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen have entered negotiations to join the cast, and previously rumored front-runner Aaron Johnson is in talks as well.

The film is set for a May 16, 2014 release, so despite a messy lawsuit currently playing out in the courts, it will have to begin shooting soon. Frank Darabont is putting the finishing touches on a script and none of the actors’ deals will be finalized until that is done and they get to take a look at the final draft. There are, of course, no plot details, but I think it’s safe to assume our fearless trio will be doing a lot of looking up as they try to save a city from being trampled.

Olsen was one of the darlings of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where she broke out in Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene”, and she has stuck religiously to the indie scene ever since. She’s been back at Sundance in the two years since, with films like Josh Radnor’s “Liberal Arts”, Rodrigo Cortes’ “Red Lights”, John Krokidas’ “Kill Your Darlings” and Naomi Foner’s “Very Good Girls.” She recently wrapped up shooting on Spike Lee’s remake of Korean horror “Oldboy” and “Godzilla” will mark Olsen’s very first foray into big budget blockbuster franchise territory, which has become an inevitable check mark on every young rising actor’s must list.

Elizabeth Olsen in talks for female lead in Spike Lee’s “Oldboy”

February 28, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Rooney Mara said no, then Mia Waikowska did too, but it seems Spike Lee may have finally found his leading lady for Korean revenge thriller remake “Oldboy.” Twitch Film is now reporting that Sundance darling Elizabeth Olsen is the latest starlet to receive an offer for the female lead role opposite Josh Brolin, while THR updates “early talks” have already begun and a deal is likely.

Olsen, like Mara before her, is no stranger to playing young women with dark and twisted circumstances thrust upon them, so she seems like a great choice for the role of a young chef named Marie, who gets embroiled in Brolin’s character’s quest for answers and revenge after he emerges from a hotel room after fifteen years of imprisonment without any knowledge of why or who put him there. Marie isn’t the only character Lee had trouble locking down, as the villain in the film has also gone through several offers to the likes of Christian Bale, Colin Firth and Clive Owen, but has thus far not resulted in any signed contracts. Meanwhile, production on the film has been pushed back to late summer, buying the filmmakers’ a bit more time to get their cast together.

After a stunning Sundance debut last year in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” (and the less buzzy, releasing soon “Silent House”), Olsen quickly started garnering awards attention and began building up her bright future resume. She signed on for coming of age drama “Very Good Girls” opposite Anton Yelchin and Dakota Fanning, then period piece “Therese Raquin” opposite Glenn Close, then Beat generation origin tale “Kill Your Darlings” with Dane DeHaan and Daniel Radcliffe. She also returned to Sundance last month with two more buzzy projects, Josh Radnor’s sophomore directorial vehicle “Liberal Arts” and Rodrigo Cortes’ sci-fi thriller “Red Lights.” Meanwhile, she also may land one hell of a big budget blockbuster in Akiva Goldsman’s “Winter’s Tale.” If her dance card isn’t completely filled up by now, that is.

Derick Martini reunites with Emma Roberts for “I Am My Family Secret”; Craig Roberts also on board

January 24, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

American actress Emma Roberts and British thesp Craig Roberts (no relation) are teaming up to co-star in indie drama “I Am My Family Secret”, according to Deadline. The film reunites Emma Roberts with director Derick Martini, who made his directorial debut on the Roberts-starrer “Lymelife” back in 2008.

The film, sure to be dark and gritty like Martini’s previous projects, follows two wildly different brothers who discover that their parents have kept a life-altering secret from them for over twenty years. Presumably Craig will be one of the brothers, and there’s no word on who Emma will play (a secret sister? A secret sister one of the brothers begins dating? Is she her family secret? The possibilities are endless). Martini’s “Lymelife” follow-up, “Hick”, has received critical reviews, but by all accounts he did his best work with Emma as his leading lady, and the same could be said for her acting as well, so this is certainly one to look forward to.

Both young thesps are currently represented at the Sundance Film Festival, Emma Roberts in comedy “Celeste and Jesse Forever”, which sold to Sony Pictures Classics, and Craig Roberts in “The First Time”, the Jonathan Kasden coming-of-age dramedy that’s also been very well received, with one sitecalling it “‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ Meets John Hughes” (in a good way). Emma, niece of Julia and son of Eric, broke out on her own when she starred in Nickelodeon series “Unfabulous”, then made a pretty successful transition to film with roles in “Scream 4″ and “The Art of Getting By.” Craig broke out in British indie coming-of-age tale “Submarine” and is also in Sundance flick “Red Lights” from “Buried” director Rodrigo Cortes.

Watch: Elizabeth Olsen scopes out “Red Lights” in first clip from sci-fi Sundance entry

January 23, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

Elizabeth Olsen returns to Sundance (where she broke out in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” one year ago) in “Buried” director Rodrigo Cortes’ “Red Lights”, and today we have our first look at a clip of her in the film. Sigourney Weaver stars as a paranormal investigator who aims to debunk fraudulent claims, and Olsen and Cillian Murphy are along for the ride as her assistants. Everything comes to a head with the reappearance of Robert DeNiro’s character, a famous blind psychic who disappeared inexplicably for 30 years. The film is meeting with mixed reports from Sundance and it’s apparently got a whopper of an ending.

In the clip below, Weaver, Olsen and Murphy are on stake out, looking for “red lights” in a crowd, which apparently means people behaving strangely. No distribution deal is in place yet for the film, though a 2012 release is certainly likely.

Olsen is also appearing in Sundance entry “Liberal Arts”, directed by and co-starring Josh Radnor, which has been much more universally praised. Looks like the Sundance streak continues for Olsen.

Elizabeth Olsen, Brit Marling, Josh Radnor and more return to Sundance in out of competition premieres

December 5, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in General News 1 Comment

The most high profile of Sundance showings have been unveiled, with the Utah film festival releasing the names of the films that will be premiering out of competition next January. Unlike the competition line-up which consisted mostly of feature debuts and little-known directors and actors waiting for their big break, the out of competition is all A-list. This year’s line-up features such acclaimed directors as Spike Lee, Stephen Frears and Julie Delpy, as well as a homecoming of sorts to festival veterans like Elizabeth Olsen (who will again be represented in two films this year after breaking out in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Silent House” last year), Brit Marling and Josh Radnor, who all return to the festival that made stars out of them in recent years.

Some early standouts after a quick skim of the new list include “Bachelorette”, a seemingly Hangover/Bridesmaids-type pre-wedding comedy starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan as old friends and James Marsden and Adam Scott as the guys in their lives; “Celeste and Jesse Forever”, a comedy about what happens after a couple breaks up but decide to remain friends, with Andy Samberg and Rashida Jones as the couple and Ari Graynor, Chris Messina, Elijah Wood and Emma Roberts their circle of friends; “Lay the Favorite” with Rebecca Hall, “Shadow Dancer” with Andrea Riseborough, and the aforementioned films with Olsen, Radnor and Marling: “Red Lights”, “Liberal Arts” and “Arbitrage.”

The full list of out of competition feature films and documentaries are below.

Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen are “Very Good Girls”

May 12, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 4 Comments

Two of the brightest young stars are aligning, as Deadline reports from Cannes that Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen are teaming up for “Very Good Girls”, and will be supported by a cast of veteran actors including Peter Sarsgaard, Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek.

To be written and directed by Naomi Foner, Fanning and Olsen will play two teenage girls spending a summer in New York City. After graduating from high school, each girl becomes determined to lose her virginity and complications ensue when they both set their sights on the same charismatic street artist. No word on who might play the street artist though memory of Sarsgaard’s corruption of young Carey Mulligan in 2009′s “An Education” seems to make him an equally fitting charming/repulsive figure here as well.

Olsen is in Cannes promoting her recent Sundance breakout hit “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and recently wrapped Rodrigo Cortes’ sci-fi drama “Red Lights”. She will next co-star opposite Josh Radnor in his “happythankyoumoreplease” follow-up “Liberal Arts”. Fanning took a brief hiatus for the sake of her education but is now back in full force, recently completing the final installment of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” and currently filming “The Motel Life” opposite Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff. She’ll next head to the deep South for “Mississippi Wild”, a jewelry robbery actioner starring Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker.

Sundance breakout Elizabeth Olsen joins Rodrigo Cortes’ “Red Lights”

January 24, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Sundance 2011′s brightest breakout star has already booked her next role. Elizabeth Olsen, earning rave reviews for “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Silent House”, tells THR that her next project will be “Buried” diretor Rodrigo Cortes’ “Red Lights”, a decision she made after “reading script after script after script.”

Olsen joins the thriller about paranormal activity with previously announced cast including Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy. “Robert plays a world renowned psychic and Sigourney is a psychology professor, and I play her student,” says Olsen. “Cillian Murphy is my love interest, though that’s not a huge part of the story.”

Despite the industry eager to fill up her dance card, the New York University undergrad has other ideas. “I’m so lucky that school is always there for me when I take these little breaks [to film a movie]. But my education is always a priority.”