CASTING NEWS

Saoirse Ronan Will Lead Overdue Snow White Film 'Order of Seven'

Saoirse Ronan

After leading the twisted sort of fairytale that was Hanna, young actress Saoirse Ronan will lead yet another drastically different variation on a classic story in what should be the last adaptation of Snow White we'll need for at least a decade. Variety reports Ronan has been tapped to lead Order of Seven, the Kung Fu centric telling of the tale that follows Olivia Sinclair, a British expatriate in 19th century Hong Kong, who seeks the protection of centuries old warriors, now a jaded group of outlaws (in place of the usual dwarves). After the reemergence of an ancient evil empress, Sinclair then helps the warriors reclaim their destiny.

  Posted February 10 in Casting, Movie News | 6 Comments

Patton Oswalt Also Joins Ben Stiller in 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

Patton Oswalt

Though his turn in Big Fan didn't get the awards recognition it deserved, things looked good for Patton Oswalt after his touching and honest performance in Young Adult. Sadly, his exclusion from the Oscar noms this year was just one of many ridiculous snubs from the Academy, and the comedian and actor will just have to settle for ample critical praise this time around. Now Variety has word that Oswalt is getting back into some light comedy by taking a supporting role in the long gestating adaptation/remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller starring, directing and producing.

  Posted February 10 in Casting, Movie News | 1 Comment

Ridley Scott Confirmed for 'The Counselor' and Fassbender May Star

Ridley Scott / Michael Fassbender

Not too long ago we heard that director Ridley Scott was circling the Cormac McCarthy (author of The Road and No Country for Old Men) scripted film The Counselor. Now Deadline confirms that Scott has made the project his next film as a director, and he might be bringing one of his Prometheus stars with him to lead the story of a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting stuck in the seedy underbelly. Apparently Michael Fassbender has been talking with Scott about taking the lead role, and while an official offer hasn't been made, it sounds like it's pretty close to happening.

  Posted February 10 in Casting, Development, Movie News | 2 Comments

Russell Crowe Also Considered for the New Dracula Thriller 'Harker'

Russell Crowe

Though the Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind star was recently mentioned in the same breath as RoboCop, Noah and Winter's Tale, Russell Crowe has since revealed (through his personal Twitter page) that he won't become the robotic police officer. That still leaves two projects, and now Vulture has word of another to be thrown into the mix. Apparently Warner Bros. is currently in talks with Crowe to lead Harker, the reimagining of Bram Stoker's Dracula that tells the story from the viewpoint of Jonathan Harker, who, in this version, is a Scotland Yard detective investigating the Count's string of grisly murders in England.

  Posted February 10 in Casting, Movie News | 2 Comments

Henry Cavill Investigating 'The Great Wall' Directed by Edward Zwick

Henry Cavill

What's up next for Superman after he saves the world? Variety is reporting that British actor Henry Cavill, who is finishing up work on Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, is looking to schedule his next role after Supes and it might be a project called The Great Wall being developed by Legendary East in China. The Great Wall, which is indeed a film about China's Great Wall, is being directed by Edward Zwick (Love and Other Drugs, Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall) from a script he wrote with Marshall Herskovitz. Sounds like an interesting prospect for Cavill, and similar to Christian Bale starring in The Flowers of War.

  Posted February 9 in Casting, Development, Movie News | 6 Comments

Morgan Freeman Heading to the Future with Tom Cruise in 'Oblivion'

Morgan Freeman

His booming voice served as the narration to space and the heavens themselves in the Science Channel series "Through the Wormhole," but now Morgan Freeman will be headed into the future. Deadline has word that the veteran actor has landed a critical role in Oblivion, the big budget sci-fi film from Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski with Tom Cruise starring. The film follows the last man (Cruise) on a post-apocalyptic and nearly uninhabitable Earth, who stays behind to repair ships that hunt down and blast a virulent alien species. However, at this time it's not clear what role Freeman has landed in the sci-fi story.

  Posted February 9 in Casting, Movie News | 6 Comments

Naomi Watts is Replacing Jessica Chastain in Princess Diana Biopic

Princess Diana / Naomi Watts

Inititally, the hardest working actress of 2011, Jessica Chastain, had been lined up to play the late Princess Diana in a new biopic called Caught in Flight, which is said to chronicle her secret two-year love affair with heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Kahn that wasn't revealed until 2008. However, a press release from Ecosse Films now reveals that Naomi Watts, last seen in J. Edgar, has landed the role instead. Perhaps director Oliver Hirschbegel thought it better to have a native o the United Kingdom play the Princess of Wales, or maybe Chastain's schedule was just too full for a deal to pan out. Either way, it's still a good casting choice.

  Posted February 9 in Casting, Movie News | 10 Comments

John Goodman Lined Up to Have Some 'Trouble with the Curve' Too

John Goodman

Right now Joel and Ethan Coen have Justin Timberlake and John Goodman lined up for the 60's folk music centric film Inside Llewyn Davis, but the actors from two different generations will be together on another film as well. Variety has word that Goodman has just joined the cast of Trouble with the Curve, the baseball drama starring Clint Eastwood as a baseball scout with vision problems who takes a road trip to Atlanta with his daughter to take a look at a hot prospect. Amy Adams has already signed to play Eastwood's daughter and Timberlake is playing a former pitcher who now works as a scout for the New York Yankees.

  Posted February 8 in Casting, Movie News | 3 Comments

Billy Connolly Joins 'The Hobbit' Cast as Dwarf Warrior Dain Ironfoot

Billy Connolly

They're not done with The Hobbit yet! Still shooting, still casting, until today! Deadline reports that Peter Jackson has cast Billy Connolly in the role of Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield. Jackson announces the news: "We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the stanchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!" Me either! This is great news to round off their casting, as Connolly is a fan-favorite character actor and fine addition.

  Posted February 8 in Casting, Hobbit News, Hype, Movie News | 16 Comments

Sullivan Stapleton to Play Xerxes in '300: Battle of Artemisia' Prequel?

Sullivan Stapleton / Xerxes

Though Rodrigo Santoro brought Xerxes to life in Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation 300, it looks like a different actor will strap on the gold chains for the gestating prequel 300: Battle of Artemisia. Deadline has word that Animal Kingdom star Sullivan Stapleton has landed the villainous role in the film that will follow the Battle of Artemisium, which is where the Persian leader Xerxes fought the warlord named Themistocles (a role that was rumored to go to Joel Edgerton but is not yet cast). The story takes place over several years, but the focal point is the Battle of Artemisium and learning why "Xerxes is the way he is."

  Posted February 8 in Casting, Development, Movie News | 18 Comments

Jason Statham to Star in New Brian De Palma-Directed 'Heat' Remake

Jason Statham / Heat

Another day, another remake. This time it's another one of those don't-mess-with-that classics - Heat, from 1987, starring Burt Reynolds (not Michael Mann's crime classic Heat from 1995). The project is being put together and sold in Berlin this week, which is why this news is hitting (via Deadline). Filmmaker Brian De Palma, who's been laying low recently after The Black Dahlia and Redacted, is set to direct this remake with Jason Statham in the lead. Sierra/Affinity is developing the film about a recovering gambling addict working as a "soft-hearted bodyguard" in Las Vegas who gets in over his head with a woman and the mafia.

  Posted February 8 in Casting, Development, Movie News | 10 Comments

Natalie Portman Joins the Ranks of Malick's Two Back-to-Back Films

Natalie Portman

Well, what do we have here? Deadline is reporting that Oscar winning actress Natalie Portman has finally lined up her next roles following her 'maternity leave' time off after winning the Black Swan Oscar. Portman is the latest to join the growing cast(s) of Terrence Malick's two new films that he's shooting back-to-back this year starring Christian Bale as well as Cate Blanchett, Haley Bennett, Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara. You may recall the names, Knight of Cups and Lawless, as they're both intriguing but that's all we know about both of them, not their premise or plot or much else, except that they may involve music. Read on!

  Posted February 8 in Casting, Development, Indies, Movie News | 4 Comments

FEATURED POSTS

GET MORE UPDATES

Subscribe to Our Feed or Daily Email:
You can also find us on Twitter:
For news updates only, follow this:
Be first to spread our news: Spread.us

POPULAR POSTS

SOUND OFF NOW!

LATEST PODCAST