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
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the wettest county

Watch: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain in first trailer for John Hillcoat’s Cannes entry “Lawless”

April 25, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos 1 Comment

Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke are the Bondurant boys, three brothers raising hell in Prohibition era Virgina, in the first trailer for one of our most eagerly anticipated movies – John Hillcoat’s “Lawless” (previously “The Wettest County in the World”). When the boys get into the business of bootlegging, they run into some nefarious gangster foes including Guy Pearce and an especially sinister Gary Oldman. And they’ve got girl problems too, coming in the forms of Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain.

The first trailer, which can be seen below, looks sprawling, intense and only increases our excitement for the film. We’ll all get to see “Lawless” on August 31st, but those attending the Cannes Film Festival will catch its world premiere there.

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Tom Hardy rides into outlaw biker drama as star and producer for Warner Bros

March 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Tom Hardy recently signed a First Look deal with Warner Bros, and has decided on his first project under his newly formed Executive Options production banner. Variety reports the “Inception” star will produce and star in a 1960s set biker gang drama.

Written by Mark L. Smith, based on an idea by producer John Linson, Hardy will play a Vietnam veteran who “returns home to San Francisco at the height of unrest of 1969. Amid clashing cultures of the Haight-Ashbury district, he emerges to become the leader of California’s most violent outlaw biker club.” Warner Bros also signed a first look deal with “The Hangover” star Bradley Cooper in recent days, and has deals in place with other rising stars including Russell Brand and Zac Efron.

Hardy impressed the studio with his scene-stealing turn as Eames in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” in 2010, and will reunite with the studio and director for “The Dark Knight Rises” this summer. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Hardy racked up critical raves for his performances in MMA drama “Warrior” and spy thriller “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” He showed off his comedic side in “This Means War” opposite Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine and will appear in John Hillcoat’s highly anticipated “The Wettest County” later this year.

Elizabeth Olsen, Dane DeHaan, Jack Huston join Daniel Radcliffe in Beat Generation biopic “Kill Your Darlings”

January 12, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

A trio of promising young rising stars have signed on to Beat Generation origin tale “Kill Your Darlings”, according to Variety. “Harry Potter” himself Daniel Radcliffe signed on to play Allen Ginsberg a couple of months ago, and it looks like Dane DeHaan, Elizabeth Olsen and Jack Huston are rounding out most of the main cast.

Huston will play Jack Kerouac (whose iconic “On the Road” is also getting the big screen treatment), Olsen his girlfriend Edie Parker, and DeHaan will be Lucien Carr, whom Ginsberg called “the glue” at the center of the tight circle of friends that would go down in history as the founders of the New York Beat scene. The fourth Beat icon in the group, William Burroughs, is presumably still yet to be cast, as well as the pivotal role of David Kammarer. John Krokidas wrote the script and will also make his feature directorial debut. Filming is scheduled to begin on March 12 in New York.

Huston, last seen in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”, also stars opposite Jessica Chastain in “Wild Salome” and Bella Heathcote in “Twylight Zones.” Olsen broke out in a big way in 2011 with her feature film debut in Sundance hit “Martha Marcy May Marlene”, one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year, thanks in no small part to her revelatory performance. DeHaan has a big year ahead with roles in “The Wettest County”, “The Place Beyond the Pines” and “Chronicle.”

Mia Wasikowska officially heads to “The Wettest County in the World”

February 9, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Mia Wasikowska’s 2011 dance card just got even more full. Previously we reported that she was trying to decide between John Hillcoat‘s Prohibition era drama “The Wettest County in the World” and “Stoker”, a drama from “Prison Break” star turned screenwriter Wentworth Miller and that she was hoping to do both if schedule allowed. She then proceeded to choose “Stoker” first, leaving her involvement in “The Wettest County” in doubt, but today THR reports that she found room for both projects after all, as she is now officially confirmed for Hillcoat’s project as well.

Set in Prohibition-era Virginia, the story centers around a trio of brothers and bootleggers, from the true account in author Matt Bondurant’s book about his grandfather and two grand-uncles. Wasikowska will join the previously announced cast that includes Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain and Dane DeHaan and will play LaBeouf’s love interest, a local Mennonite girl. THR also confirms Clarke’s character to be that of Howard, the eldest brother and that Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman have joined the cast as well. Pearce will be an overly violent policeman who clashes with the brothers, and Oldman will be a shady mobster who hires the boys to deliver alcohol.

Wasikowska will next be seen in Cary Fukunaga’s new adaptation of “Jane Eyre”, out March 11th, and in Gus Van Sant’s “Restless”. And between promotion of those films she’ll film “The Wettest County”, “Stoker” and a new adaptation of “A View from the Bridge”.

Mia Wasikowska circling “Wettest County” and “Stoker”

January 19, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Is Mia Wasikowska trying to give Tom Hardy a run for his money as the hardest-working actor in Hollywood? A day after she joined the cast of “A View from the Bridge”, Variety reports that the “Alice in Wonderland” actress is circling two more projects, and might just do them both if schedule permits.

“The Wettest County”, John Hillcoat’s Prohibition era drama based on the book by Matt Bondurant, has been picking up steam and buzz in recent months after a long-gestating period that had actors like Ryan Gosling and Amy Adams signed on and then off at one point or another. Now looking to go full-steam ahead, it has an early 2011 start date with Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain all onboard.

Over at Fox Searchlight, Wasikowska is interested in “Stoker”, set up at Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, about a teenage girl mourning the loss of her father and dealing with the sudden appearance of a mysterious uncle. Jodie Foster and Carey Mulligan had been attached to star for director Park Chan-Wook as of November 2010, but it’s unclear if Wasikowska would be taking Mulligan’s role or if there is room for both actresses, or if any of the aforementioned people are even still attached.

Even without the two new projects, Wasikowska is looking at a full year in 2011. Currently on location in Ireland for Glenn Close’s “Albert Nobbs”, she’ll have the new adaptation of “Jane Eyre” coming out on March 11 and Gus Van Sant’s “Restless” down the pike as well. No word yet on when “A View from the Bridge” will begin production.