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Casting Tidbits: Stephen Moyer, Bill Nighy and Eva Longoria

by Ethan Anderton
June 8, 2010

Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into Casting Tidbits and crawled out. First up, Variety reports that Max Minghella (soon to be seen in The Social Network), offspring of the late filmmaker Anthony Minghella, will star alongside Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby in the supernatural science fiction flick The Darkest Hour, a story centering on a group of kids struggling to survive in Russia after an alien invasion. Director Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door) is helming the project. More news ahead!

Next, Heat Vision reports that "True Blood" star Stephen Moyer will sink his teeth into a couple different feature film roles. The first, a thriller called The Double, sees him play a Russian spy in a story centering on a retired CIA operative (Richard Gere) who is forced to partner with a young FBI agent (Topher Grace) to hunt down the killer of a senator in Washington. Sounds like they took the fun out of a buddy cop comedy and decided it needed a vampire (or at least someone who plays one on TV). The second project, The Big Valley, will be a big screen version of the western 1960's television series of the same name which followed a family of ranchers nack in 19th century California. Moyer will play Jarrod Barkley, the family's respected attorney who represents ranchers fighting to keep their land from being taken by railroad companies.

Also, Variety reports that Andy Garcia (City Island), Nestor Carbonell ("Lost," The Dark Knight) Peter O'Toole (last seen in Stardust and Venus), Eva Longoria Parker ("Desperate Housewives") and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek) will star in the Mexican historical epic Cristiada. The film is already shooting in Mexico with visual effects veteran Dean Wright (who's worked on Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Titanic) directing a story that focuses on the 1926-29 Cristeros war, started by a rebellion over the Mexican government's 1917 attempt to remove the influence of the Catholic Church and secularize the country.

Finally, ShockTillYouDrop reports renowned British actor Bill Nighy (Pirate Radio, Shaun of the Dead) will star in Shadowland, a 3-D adaptation of  Peter Straub's 1980 novel of the same name. With a script from Larry Leahy, the story focuses on a young university student (uncast as far as we know) who is lured by a charismatic old gentleman into a world of magic, but is forced to decide whether or not to join the forces of evil to save the life of his best friend. Beautiful actress Natalie Dormer ("The Tudors") will also star in the film, and although their roles are not specified, I'd bet Nighy is playing the old gentlemen, but I'm clueless as to who Dormer will play. Veteran Quebecois director Erik Canuel will be at the helm of Shadowland.

Well, that's all for this edition of Casting Tidbits. Be sure to stay tuned for more casting updates on the way.

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