Matthias Schoenaerts and Noomi Rapace Are “Alive Alone”

May 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

alive-alone European turned Hollywood movie stars Matthias Schoenaerts and Noomi Rapace have been set to star in thriller “Alive Alone”, which is being packaged to sell at Cannes this week, reports Deadline.

Khurram Longi will make his directing debut on the film which focuses on the relationship between Schoenaerts’ ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee and Rapace as a young woman on the run from a crime boss. The “Animal Rescue” co-stars are taking over roles that back in 2009 had been earmarked for Samantha Morton and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Longi also wrote the script, which landed on both the Black List and the UK-based Brit List of best unproduced screenplays.

Schoenaerts and Rapace are currently filming New York-set crime thriller “Animal Rescue” together opposite Tom Hardy. Rapace will next also star with Hardy in spy drama “Child 44.” She, of course, broke out stateside in the original Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and has since starred in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” and “Prometheus.” Schoenaerts broke out starring opposite Marion Cotillard in last year’s Oscar contender “Rust and Bone” and has also landed a string of English roles, with roles in “Suite Francaise” opposite Michelle Williams, “A Little Chaos” opposite Kate Winslet and maybe “Far From the Madding Crowd” with Carey Mulligan coming up.

“Animal Rescue” co-stars Noomi Rapace and Tom Hardy to reunite for “Child 44″

January 30, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

The newest rising star duo to book back-to-back projects together are Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace, who have not even began filming on their first collaboration, “Animal Rescue”, just yet, but are already making plans to do it again sometime soon. THR reports the two are in negotiations to star in Soviet-era spy thriller “Child 44″ for director Daniel Espinosa.

They were rumored to have been eyed for the film back in December when their crime drama “Animal Rescue” casting came together, but now it’s firming up. They will husband and wife in “Child 44″, with Hardy as a Soviet officer who becomes the target of suspicion from his own government and Rapace as his wife, who pretends to be loyal and doting but hiding secrets of her own. Richard Price wrote the script based on Tom Rob Smith’s novel. Hardy and Rapace will film “Animal Rescue” in March and then “Child 44″ in May.

After breaking out in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and then again in “The Dark Knight Rises”, Hardy has been undeniably deemed Hollywood’s favorite new star and seemingly has his pick of projects. He’s sticking to mostly dark fare, producing two separate features about illegal poaching and is attached to a big screen adaptation of video game franchise “Splinter Cell”, as well as Doug Liman’s “Everest.” He recently wrapped up shooting on “Mad Max: Fury Road” and was last seen on screen in John Hillcoat’s violent Cannes premiere “Lawless.”

Rapace was the original Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and has made a successful transition to Hollywood roles, culminating with Ridley Scott hand-picking her to star in his “Alien” prequel-esque “Prometheus.” She was last seen in Brian DePalma’s “Passion” opposite Rachel McAdams and will next appear opposite Colin Farrell in revenge thriller “Dead Man Down.”

Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace teaming up for “Animal Rescue”

December 17, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Tom Hardy is in final negotiations and Noomi Rapace has received an offer to star in crime drama “Animal Rescue”, according to Deadline. Michael R. Roskam will direct from a short story by “Gone Baby Gone” author Dennis Lehane, who adapted the script himself.

Hardy will play a man who wants to shed his criminal past but “gets mixed up in a bad heist and a killing resulting from a lost and contested pit bull.” Like most of Lehane’s stories, it takes place in Boston, but because of the influx of Boston-set tales in recent years, the screen version will take place in New York. Filming is set to begin on location in March and will be Hardy’s next film.

This also may not be the only time Hardy and Rapace work together, as Variety’s Jeff Sneider tweeted the two are also being eyed to star in spy thriller/murder mystery “Child 44″, which has Ridley Scott attached to direct. That project, though, sounds further off, and much less firm, especially with Hardy’s increasingly busy schedule.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” actress Elodie Yung joins Evan Rachel Wood in “10 Things I Hate About Life”

November 30, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

French actress Elodie Yung, who played the role of Miriam Wu in David Fincher’s adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, has joined Evan Rachel Wood in indie rom-com “10 Things I Hate About Life”, according to Deadline.

The film is being produced and directed by writer/director Gil Junger and producer Andrew Lazar, respectively, who brought us “10 Things I Hate About You”, but this film is not a sequel to the Julia Stiles/Heath Ledger cult classic in any way. Instead, Wood plays one half of a young couple who meet each other while attempting to commit suicide and instead decide to stay alive – together. Filming is set to begin in December in Los Angeles.

French native Yung is expected to reprise her role opposite Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth Salander if and when “Dragon Tattoo” sequels – “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” – begin production, with Miriam becoming increasingly more prominent. She also plays Jinx in next summer’s “G. I. Joe: Retaliation” alongside Channing Tatum and Adrianne Palicki.

Rooney Mara, Ben Foster and Casey Affleck to lead “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”

April 27, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

David Lowery has expanded his short film and Sundance Screenwriters Lab piece “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”, and has set Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara and Ben Foster to star in the feature, reports Deadline.

Lowery wrote the script and will make his feature directorial debut on the project, which he hopes to shoot this summer and have ready in time for Sundance 2013. Plot details are vague, but it’s described as revolving around an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across Texas to reunite with his wife and the child he has never met. Presumably Mara would play the wife but no word on which of Affleck or Foster will play the outlaw (though our bet would be on Affleck). It’s said to have the tone and atmosphere of a modern western.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Mara seems to be the name on Hollywood’s minds these days as this is the third project she has landed in as many days. She’s currently filming “Bitter Pill” for Steven Soderbergh, and will then immediately transition to Spike Jonze’s secretive and untitled new film. Presumably “Ain’t Them bodies Saints” will follow, and then in September she’s committed to Terrence Malick’s (previously titled) “Lawless” opposite Ryan Gosling. Foster, last seen in “Rampart” and “Contraband”, just wrapped up playing William Burroughs in Beat poet biopic “Kill Your Darlings” and will star in Peter Berg’s Navy SEAL actioner “Lone Survivor.” Affleck, who won an Oscar nomination for his breakout role in “The Assassination of Jesse James”, is currently filming “Out of the Furnace” after beating out Taylor Kitsch and Garrett Hedlund for the highly coveted role of Christian Bale’s younger brother.

Nick Hornby and “An Education” filmmakers set Rooney Mara for “Brooklyn”

April 26, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Rooney Mara and Carey Mulligan certainly are treading a lot of similar territory these days. Just yesterday Mara replaced Mulligan in Spike Jonze’s new untitled film, and now the filmmakers behind “An Education”, which shot Mulligan to stardom and her first Oscar nomination, want to do business with Mara too. Variety reports producers Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey have attached Mara to star in “Brooklyn”, a 1950s set drama based on Colm Toibin’s novel.

Mara will star as Ellis Lacey, an Irish girl who reluctantly leaves her small village to take a job offer in New York City. There, she begins to adjust and enjoy her new freedom, falling in love along the way. When she’s called back to Ireland suddenly, she meets another man on home soil, and must choose between the two men and the two cities they represent. Filmmakers are talking to directors and have tentatively set a Spring 2013 production start date. Acclaimed novelist Nick Hornby, who also adapted “An Education” for the producers, will write the screenplay for “Brooklyn.”

It’s another impressive project for Mara, who has followed up her Oscar-nominated role in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” with the lead in Steven Soderbergh’s currently-filming “Bitter Pill”, a role in Terrence Malick’s “Lawless” and the Jonze film, which she will film right after “Bitter Pill” wraps. No word yet on whether sequels “The Girl who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” will go forward, but looks like she might be too busy anyway.

Rooney Mara to replace Carey Mulligan in untitled Spike Jonze film opposite Joaquin Phoenix

April 25, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 4 Comments

Rooney Mara continues her unbelievable streak of working with some of Hollywood’s best directors, as Variety reports she is due to replace Carey Mulligan in Spike Jonze’s next feature, a secretive untitled film that also stars Joaquin Phoenix, Samantha Morton and Amy Adams.

Mulligan had been reported to be in discussions for the film back in February, but it appears that never came together and Mara, obviously a favorite of producer Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures, will complete the cast and get the project rolling right after she finishes filming Steven Soderbergh’s “Bitter Pill” next month. While there are still no firm details on plot, we do know that Jonze himself scripted it and it revolves around a man who falls in love with the voice of a computer.

Mara obviously developed an affinity working with auteur directors after becoming “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” for David Fincher, which landed her her first Oscar nomination earlier this year. She then signed on to do Terrence Malick’s previously-titled “Lawless” opposite Ryan Gosling, and is currently in the midst of shooting with Soderbergh on “Bitter Pill” in New York. Spike Jonze seems a natural follow-up to keep this streak going.

First Look: Rooney Mara debuts new brunette look in set photos from Steven Soderbergh’s “Bitter Pill”

April 10, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

It’s been over a year of being Lisbeth Salander and it looks like Rooney Mara is finally sporting a new look. Well, it’s probably just a wig and temporary, but still. Gossip site Celebrity-Gossip.net snapped the star wigged and ready to begin work on Steven Soderbergh’s “Bitter Pill” today in New York.

In her first follow-up to her Oscar-nominated role as “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, Mara stars as Emily Hawkins, a depressed woman who turns to pills as her anxiety grows over the imminent release of her husband from prison. Frequent Soderbergh collaborators Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones round out the supporting cast, with Tatum as her husband and Law and Zeta-Jones as her psychiatrists. Filming began yesterday in Manhattan and the NY Post also reports the director plans to take his cast to a real working prison to do some filming as well.

See a few more images of Mara as Emily Hawkins below, and head over to Celebrity Gossip and JustJared for more.

Almost-Lisbeth Salander Sarah Snook and Mark Webber topline horror “Jessabelle”

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

Lionsgate has set multi-hyphenate Mark Webber and Australian actress Sarah Snook to star in horror flick “Jessabelle”, according to Variety. “Saw 3D” helmer Kevin Greutert will direct when cameras begin rolling on April 2nd.

Snook stars as the titular protagonist, a young woman who is forced to return to her father’s in Louisiana after a car accident leaves her paralyzed from the waist down. Soon she uncovers secrets and mysteries behind her own birth, as well as a vengeful ghost set on destroying her. Webber will play a childhood friend she reunites with who helps her discover the truth about her family. Comedy writer Robert Ben Garant wrote the script, so perhaps a lighter tone will be taken here, though the plot certainly doesn’t lend itself to that conclusion.

Australian actress Snook was one of the five girls left standing at the very end of David Fincher’s search for Lisbeth Salander in his adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, along with fellow Aussies Emily Browning and Sophie Lowe, French actress Lea Seydoux and eventual winner, American actress Rooney Mara. Snook has appeared on various Ausralian TV series including the most recent “Spirited”, and also had a role in “Sleeping Beauty” opposite Browning. Webber starred in Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” and recently trekked to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival where he starred in two movies, “Save the Date” and “For a Good Time, Call…” as well as wrote, directed and starred in a third, “The End of Love.”

Confirmed: Joel Kinnaman is the new “Robocop”

February 24, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

UPDATE 03/03/12: Deadline reports negotiations are now closed and Kinnaman has officially signed on as MGM’s new “Robocop.”

Is Joel Kinnaman the new hot commodity in Hollywood? It sure seems that way, with studios and filmmakers eager to woo the Swedish actor for all sorts of big projects, from “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” to “Arthur and Lancelot.” With the latter film on hold indefinitely, MGM is hoping Kinnaman has room to take on the title role in its “Robocop” remake. Deadline reports Kinnaman will be receiving an official offer for the role, but as always, we are probably still a ways away from locking down anything or anyone official.

Josh Zetumer wrote the script and Jose Padilha will direct the new film based on the 1987 sci-fi classic that starred Peter Weller. It was such a pop culture icon that the movie spawned two sequels, a television series, two animated TV series, and a television mini-series, video games and two comic book adaptations. And now a remake. Kinnaman would take over the role of a murdered police officer who is recruited to become a cyborg cop.

Kinnaman is currently working on the second season of divisive AMC series “The Killing”, which ended its first season on a twist of a cliffhanger involving his character. On the film front, Kinnaman’s star is rising fast after breaking out in hit Swedish thriller “Snabba Cash” and the soon to be released sequel; he also has roles as Daniel Craig and Robin Wright’s magazine co-editor in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and as the man who operates Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington’s “Safe House” under his belt. We’re just hoping to see him as Lancelot.

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