Diego Boneta and Cam Gigandet joining Gina Carano in “In the Blood”

November 7, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Diego Boneta and Cam Gigandet will take roles in revenge thriller “In the Blood”, according to Deadline, who reports Boneta is set, while Gigandet is in talks. The guys will be supporting new action star Gina Carano, who signed on to headline in February.

John Stockwell will direct the film from a screenplay by James Robert Johnson and Bennett Yellin, which revolves around Carano’s character Ava, who goes after two men she believes have kidnapped her husband during their South American honeymoon. Gigandet is playing the husband, while Boneta will play a local who is roped into helping her.

Stockwell recently directed Gigandet in “Seal Team Six: The Raid On Osama bin Laden”, which went directly to TV. The original “Twilight” villain. Gigandet has also appeared in “Easy A”, “Priest” and “Won’t Back Down.” Boneta has appeared on teen TV series like “90210″ and “Pretty Little Liars”, but is mostly known for his lead role in this summer’s musical “Rock of Ages.”

Julianne Hough to reunite with Diablo Cody for “Time and a Half”

August 7, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Julianne Hough and Diablo Cody must have really enjoyed working together on Cody’s still untitled directorial debut, because Hough has now signed on to headline romantic dramedy “Time and a Half”, which Cody wrote and Ol Parker will direct. Variety broke the news earlier today.

Hough will play a recent college graduate who takes a job at a local trophy store and runs into her sister’s high school boyfriend, with whom she had a one night stand. Variety emphasizes production will not go forward until the right actress is cast to play the sister, and filming is likely to take place after the beginning of 2013.

She was a dancer, not a star when she first appeared on “Dancing with the Stars”, but Hough has made a transition from reality star to movie star that should be enviable to just about everyone else in her profession. After a bit role in “Burlesque”, Hough landed the female lead in Craig Brewer’s “Footloose” remake, followed by the female lead in Adam Shankman’s “Rock of Ages”, then the Nicholas Sparks adaptation “Safe Haven” – a role originally earmarked for Keira Knightley – which is currently filming. Cody’s formerly-titled “Lamb of God” and now “Time and a Half” will make it five for five.

Malin Akerman and Jason Sudeikis joining ensemble family drama “This Is Where I Leave You”

May 29, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

“Saturday Night Live” cast member Jason Sudeikis and actress Malin Akerman are the latest to join the large ensemble cast of “This Is Where I Leave You”, according to Variety. Just earlier today Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn, Jason Bateman and Leslie Mann joined the cast of the Adam Shankman directed family dramedy.

Jonathan Topper’s 2009 novel revolved around Judd Foxman, to be played by Bateman, who’s summoned home to sit Shiva with his three siblings for the full seven days after the death of their father. Mann and Efron will play Wendy and Philip, Judd’s siblings, while Akerman will play his unfaithful wife, whose affair with his boss, to be played by Sudeikis, has just become public. Hawn plays the family matriarch and there is another sibling, oldest brother Paul, still to be cast. Filming is scheduled for September.

Akerman next stars in Shankman’s “Rock of Ages”, out next month, and recently landed the role of rocker Debbie Harry in New York club pic “CBGB.” Sudeikis has been a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” since 2006 and recently starred in last summer’s hit comedy “Horrible Bosses”, also opposite Bateman. He’ll next be seen opposite Will Farrell and Zach Galafianakis in “The Campaign.”

Keira Knightley out, Julianne Hough in for Nicholas Sparks adaptation “Safe Haven” opposite Josh Duhamel

May 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Keira Kinghtley said no, will Julianne Hough say yes? Variety reports it’s the “Dancing with the Stars” graduate who is now in negotiations to star in the latest Nicholas Sparks big screen adaptation, Lasse Hallstrom’s “Safe Haven”, which already has Josh Duhamel as its leading man.

Hough will play Katie, a mysterious young woman who shows up in a small coastal town in North Carolina harboring dark secrets about her past. Though she tries to avoid it, she falls for handsome widower Alex (Duhamel), with two young children in tow, and forms a friendship with her next door neighbor Jo. Her past catches up to her and we can only assume that at least one person will end up dead and everyone else depressed in the end. The film already has a release date of February 8, 2013, with filming set to begin ASAP.

After dancing her way to stardom on hit ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars” (she was a dancer, not a star), Hough has been steadily landing high profile big screen roles, first taking on the female lead in the “Footloose” remake, then the big screen adaptation of Broadway musical “Rock of Ages”, out next month. She recently wrapped playing another lead, in Diablo Cody’s untitled drama formerly known as “Lamb of God”, and starring in “Safe Haven” seems right in step with her repertoire thus far.

Alexander Payne wants SNL alum Will Forte for father-son road trip comedy “Nebraska”

May 15, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Will Will Forte be the latest comedian turned serious actor? Jonah Hill and Patton Oswalt have been recently generating buzz for stepping out of their usual low brow comedy box for prestige directors like Bennett Miller and Jason Reitman, now “Saturday Night Live” alum Forte could be following in their footsteps as he has emerged as director Alexander Payne’s choice for his follow-up to “The Descendants”, a father-son road trip comedy called “Nebraska.” Deadline reports Forte would be the son, and Payne is eyeing veteran actor Bruce Dern for the father.

Payne will shoot the film in black and white (“Because it would look so cool,” he tells The LA Times) from a script originally written by Bob Nelson that he read nearly a decade ago. Dern will play a cranky Midwestern man suffering from dementia who convinces his son to road trip from his home in Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska, because he believes he’s won a sweepstakes there. Payne has made his choice of Dern and Forte known to Paramount, the studio backing the film, though nothing official has commenced.

As a veteran of “SNL” since 2002, Forte has stayed close with the tight-knit group of comedians, often appearing in other cast members’ projects, including “30 Rock” with Tina Fey and “Parks and Recreation” with Amy Poehler. An attempt to capitalize on one of his SNL personas – the hapless “MacGruber” – as a feature film failed in 2010, but Forte’s film career is still on the rise. He’ll be seen opposite fellow SNL alum Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler in next year’s “I Hate You, Dad” and had a role written especially for him in Adam Shankman’s upcoming musical “Rock of Ages.” He will also be seen opposite Hill in alien invasion comedy “The Watch” (formerly “Neighborhood Watch”).

Watch: Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta camp it up in totally 80s “Rock of Ages” trailer

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

And suddenly, a new challenger emerges for the title of worst first trailer of a 2012 release. Relative unknowns Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta lead a large all-star cast (including Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige and Alec Baldwin) for the musical set in the rock scene of the 1980s Hollywood. She’s a small town girl and he’s a big city boy, but they share one dream: to become a rock star. Adam Shankman directs the big budget, big scale summer blockbuster based on the hit Broadway show.

Aiming for a tone that’s outrageous almost to the point of parody but not quite hitting it, the bad jokes and half-hearted delivery from the otherwise impressive cast seem to fall flat, though there are moments that suggest the film could be better than the trailer would have you believe – a “We’re Not Gonna Take It” vs. “We Built This City” mashup/battle between Catherine Zeta-Jones’ conservative church group and Russell Brand’s rambunctious rock fans being one intriguing standout. With most of the trailer focusing on the build-up to revealing Cruise’s rock star Stacey Jaxx, the budding romance between Hough’s Sherrie and Boneta’s Drew remains mostly hidden and therefore brimming with potential.

“Rock of Ages” will be release on June 1, 2012.

“Rock of Ages” stars Julianne Hough and Russell Brand reunite for Diablo Cody’s directorial debut

September 27, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Julianne Hough and Russell Brand are confirmed to be the stars of “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody’s directorial debut, Deadline reports.

Formerly titled “Lamb of God”, the film revolves Hough’s character, a young woman who loses her faith after a plane crash and goes 180 in the opposite direction, reveling in “the decadence of Las Vegas.” There she meets an unlikely companion, presumably played by Brand, who aids her on her journey to find herself.

Hough and Brand recently wrapped up shooting on Adam Shankman’s big screen adaptation of hit Broadway musical “Rock of Ages”, alongside an all-star cast that includes Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige and Malin Akerman. Hough, a dancer who got her first taste of fame on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”, will next be seen as the female lead in Paramount’s remake of Kevin Bacon classic “Footloose”, while British comedian Brand is thus far most known for “Get Him to the Greek” and “Arthur”.

Diego Boneta and Camilla Belle may be Adam and Eve in “Paradise Lost”

September 22, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

UPDATE [10/10/11]: Variety reports Boneta is now in final negotiations to play Adam. Belle’s name is curiously missing from the new article…

Are these the faces of the most iconic couple of all time? Variety reports that director Alex Proyas is targeting up and comers Diego González Boneta and Camilla Belle to play Adam and Eve in his epic action 3D battle “Paradise Lost”, which already sees Bradley Cooper as Lucifer and Benjamin Walker as the Good to his Evil, the archangel Michael. Belle has an official offer on the table to play Eve, while Boneta is the “front-runner” for Adam. It was also reported earlier today that Casey Affleck has joined the cast as Gabriel, and Djimon Hounsou will co-star as Abdiel, the angel of death.

Walker and Cooper will face off in what is described as “the war that began all wars”, beginning with Lucifer’s banishment from Heaven. He then builds his own army to battle Michael’s forces of good, leading to three major battle scenes that take place in Heaven, Hell and eventually Eden. Deadline further details that Eve is in fact the cause of the struggle. Just as Helen of Troy was “the face that launched a thousand ships”, here Eve “sparks the war that began all wars for the future of mankind.” The special effects will be the centerpiece of the film – “300 meets Lord of the Rings with winged warriors” – with production slated to begin in January in Sydney, Australia.

Belle has had more of a roller coaster than a straight rising career, at one point seeming to be on the verge of a breakout with starring roles in “10,000 BC” and “Push” in 2009, but then disappearing when those films didn’t perform as expected at the box office. This role, said to have been highly sought after by young actresses and is the female lead of the film, will be one hell of a comeback for the actress who was last seen in “From Prada to Nada”, a film whose quality and gravitas should be plenty evident based on its title alone.

Boneta is much greener and seems to be in high demand in films now, after having a few recurring roles on teen series like “Pretty Little Liars” and “90210.” The Mexican actor/musician recently landed and wrapped filming the highly coveted lead role of Drew in Adam Shankman’s big screen adaptation of hit Broadway musical “Rock of Ages” after a massive open casting call was performed.

Ben Stiller welcomes Will Forte to the “Neighborhood”

September 15, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

“Saturday Night Live” alum Will Forte has joined the ever-growing comedic ensemble cast of “Neighborhood Watch”, reports THR. Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn lead the alien invasion comedy along with a cast that also includes Jonah Hill, Rosemarie DeWitt, “Submarine” director Richard Ayoade and most recently, “Red State” star Nicholas Braun.

The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer directs the film about a group of bored suburbanites who form a neighborhood watch group as a front for male bonding and inadvertently stumble across an alien plot to destroy the world. Forte’s character will be Sergeant Bressman, perhaps indicating he will not be one of the dads but rather be involved in some sort of law enforcement subplot.

Forte, a prolific writer and producer, has worked on series including “Late Show with David Letterman”, “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “That ’70s Show.” As a veteran of “SNL” since 2002, he has stayed close with the tight-knit group of comedians, often appearing in other cast members’ projects, including “30 Rock” with Tina Fey and “Parks and Recreation” with Amy Poehler. An attempt to capitalize on one of his SNL personas – the hapless “MacGruber” – as a feature film failed in 2010, but Forte’s film career is still on the rise. He’ll be seen opposite fellow SNL alum Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler in next year’s “I Hate You, Dad” and had a role written especially for him in Adam Shankman’s upcoming musical “Rock of Ages.”

First Look: Julianne Hough and Diego González Boneta go totally 80′s on “Rock of Ages” set

May 24, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

Bright colors, high waisted acid wash jean shorts, giant triangular bikini bottoms? Yup, it’s the 1980′s, alright, and Julianne Hough and Diego Gonzales Boneta are on hand to do their best impression of a happy, carefree young couple in the first photos from the set of “Rock of Ages”, seen here thanks to Coming Soon.

Based on the hit Broadway show and featuring iconic hits from various 1980s rock bands, Boneta and Hough play Drew and Sherrie, young aspiring musicians who meet in a bar in LA and fall in love, but struggle to stay together amidst the turbulent rock n’ roll lifestyle. The two relative unknown youngsters will lead an all-star supporting cast that includes Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige and Malin Akerman.

Director Adam Shankman is currently shooting on location in Miami, preparing “Rock of Ages” for a June 1, 2012 release.

Several images of Boneta and Hough frolicking, 80s style, are below. See many more at Coming Soon!

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