CASTING NEWS
Zach Braff's Kickstarter Film Lands Josh Gad and Gets Full Financing
Just last month, Garden State director and "Scrubs" star Zach Braff turned to Kickstarter in order to help get his new directing effort, Wish I Was Here, off the ground as an independent production. Well, the film raised more than $2.6 million from more than 38,000 people, exceeding the $2 million goal, in about a week. Nice job, Kickstarter! Well, maybe not. THR has news that the Kickstarter response to Braff's film has actually inspired Worldview Entertainment to fully fund the project, and it seems like the campaign was just a pawn in getting a real company to back the project as opposed to just going the indie route. More below!
› Posted May 15 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Bradley Cooper Leading Another 'Chef' Project at Weinstein Company
Hot on the heels of news that The Avengers co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson would reteam with their Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau for his indie Chef, there's some slightly troubling news of another project with that very same title. This other Chef has been in the works for a little longer with The Weinstein Company backing the project from Eastern Promises writer Steven Wright with August: Osage County director John Wells now at the helm. Now Deadline has word from Cannes that Bradley Cooper has formally agreed to star in the film, and there's a small battle brewing over the title confusion overseas.
› Posted May 15 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Chris Pine & Jake Gyllenhaal Get Musical in Disney's 'Into the Woods'
How would you like to see Captain Kirk belt out some Broadway tunes on the big screen? While many audiences will see Chris Pine as the infamous Starfleet officer in Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend, THR has word that he's currently in talks to join Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep in Disney's adaptation of the musical Into the Woods. In addition, Jake Gyllenhaal is also in discussions for a role in the film from Chicago and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall. Pine and Gyllenhaal would play two sibling princes for Cinderella and Rapunzel, and they are quite pompous and self-absorbed.
› Posted May 15 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Robert Downey Jr. & Scarlett Johansson Cook Up Jon Favreau's 'Chef'
At the end of April, we learned that director Jon Favreau was getting back to his indie roots with a "character study" film called Chef. At the time, the cast included Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Bobby Canavale, but a couple bigger names have also signed up in the past week. Favreau's Iron Man franchise co-star Robert Downey Jr. has signed up for the indie along with Scarlett Johansson, also a big part of the Marvel franchise, including The Avengers. While the film is up for sale in Cannes right now for distribution, some of the cast is already working with Favreau and training to learn how to be a chef. In fact, Leguizamo himself has posted a couple pictures on Twitter of chef training with Favreau. More below!
› Posted May 15 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Christoph Waltz Joining De Niro & Clarke in Gaghan's 'Candy Store'
At one time, names like Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and others were said to be circling Candy Store, the new crime thriller from writer and director Stephen Gaghan (Traffic). However, none of those names had come to fruition until now. Deadline has learned that Waltz is now on board to star in the film which also has Robert De Niro, Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Omar Sy (The Intouchables, X-Men: Days of Future Past) already on board the film set up at Lionsgate. Considering how many names were circling before, there's likely some more casting that needs to be done. More below!
› Posted May 14 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Will Smith in Talks to Star in and Produce Remake of 'The Wild Bunch'
With the hopeful blockbuster sci-fi After Earth bringing Will Smith back to theaters for summer, this time with his quickly maturing son Jaden Smith, the international superstar is already getting his next project together. The Wrap has learned that Smith is currently in talks to star in and produce a contemporary remake of the classic 1969 western The Wild Bunch set up at Warner Bros. The Karate Kid remake producer Jerry Weintraub would also produce with Smith, working from his Overbrook Entertainment banner. However, it sounds like the story won't really be much of a traditional western anymore. Read on!
› Posted May 14 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Bill Hader Gets 'Lawless' After Announcing 'Saturday Night Live' Exit
In case you hadn't heard, comedian Bill Hader is leaving "Saturday Night Live" after eight years on the staple late night sketch comedy series. When he wasn't busy working on the latest episode, Hader made quite an impression as a supporting actor in plenty of comedies like Superbad, Hot Rod, Paul, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Tropic Thunder and more. Now that he's leaving "SNL" behind, we can expect to see him more and more, and THR has word on an indie that has landed Hader's talents. The project is called Lawless, and it will mark the directorial debut of Yes Man writers Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel.
› Posted May 14 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass to Lead Medical Thriller 'Reawakening'
Lately producer Jason Blum and his Blumhouse productions have been on a string of horror hits with the Paranormal Activity franchise, and also new franchises launching from Insidious and Sinister. Now Lionsgate is behind Blum's newest producing effort, a medical thriller called Reawakening with Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass starring in the film for Jiro Dreams of Sushi director David Gelb. The script comes from Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater (who worked on Fox's reboot of Fantastic Four) and follows a team of research students that discovers the secret to bringing subjects back from the dead. More below!
› Posted May 14 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Talks for Role in 'Toxic Avenger' Remake
Over two years ago, we learned that Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink was attached to direct a remake of the cult classic The Toxic Avenger. Since then, the only news we've heard on the project came late last summer when John Travolta was rumored for some sort of role in the film, but not the titular hero. Now another big name is in talks for a lead role, but again it's not to play Toxie himself. Variety has word that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who returned to leading movies this past January in The Last Stand is currently negotiating to take an unknown lead role in the reimagining of the 80s property. More below!
› Posted May 13 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Billy Crystal Leading 'Winter's Discontent' for Director Frank Oz Now
For about five years now there's been a script waiting to be produced called Winter's Discontent. The adult comedy has been described as follows: When Herb Winter's wife of fifty years dies, the faithful but sexually frustrated widower moves into a retirement community to start living the swinging single life. Last we heard back in 2009, Borat and The Dictator director Larry Charles was on board the project written by first-timer Paul Fruchbom and featured on last year's Black List. But now Deadline has word that In & Out and Death at a Funeral director Frank Oz is at the helm with Billy Crystal attached to lead the comedy.
› Posted May 13 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Timothy Olyphant in 'Dark Knight' Producer's 'Man on Carrion Road'
Many TV fans have become accustomed to seeing Timothy Olyphant as a man of the law on the FX series "Justified," and he'll wear a badge again in The Man on Carrion Road, a new indie from Atlas Independent, the indie arm of Atlas Entertainment, the company founded by The Dark Knight trilogy producer Charles Roven. The film follows a botched Mexican cartel deal in the back roads of a border town. The town's new sheriff (Olyphant) must team up with the retired lawman he replaced to investigate the source of the deal in order to stop a mysterious cartel butcher and his brutalization of the town's people.
› Posted May 13 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Neil Patrick Harris in 'Million Ways to Die in the West' for May 2014
The cast of the next directorial effort from Seth MacFarlane was already impressive enough with the likes of Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi involved. But now the western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West has one more name to throw into the mix, and it's a good one. A press release from Universal Pictures (which also announces a co-financing partnership with Media Rights Capital) has revealed that "How I Met Your Mother" star and Broadway sensation Neil Patrick Harris will have some sort of role in the film, but no character details are known. More below!
› Posted May 10 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
Chloe Moretz Joining Denzel Washington in Fuqua's 'The Equalizer'
We already know director Antoine Fuqua is reteaming with his Training Day star Denzel Washington for The Equalizer, an adaptation of the 80s television show of the same name, featuring a solitary former special ops member who helps people in need. Now the film has just acquired a fantastic female lead in the form of Chloe Moretz. Deadline says a reading between Washington and the Kick-Ass and Let Me In star yielded some impressive results, so much that she's playing a prostitute that was written for someone about 20-years-old. Moretz just turned 16 this past February, but on the big screen, she's very mature for her age.
› Posted May 10 in Casting, Development, Movie News | Comments
William Fichtner Taking 'Iconic' Role in 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'
Even though production of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is underway in New York City right now with Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Pete Ploszek as Leonardo, Jeremy Howard as Donatello, and Noel Fisher as Michelangelo, with Megan Fox playing their trusty reporter friend April O'Neil, there's still roles to be cast. Will Arnett landed an unknown role, but set photos have since revealed that he's playing O'Neil's cameraman Vernon Fenwick. Now Deadline reports William Fichtner (Armageddon, The Dark Knight, The Lone Ranger) has landed a role that is said to have "iconic stature" in the TMNT mythology. Read on!
› Posted May 10 in Casting, Movie News | Comments
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