CASTING COUCH: 04/10/2013

Anne Hathaway is in talks to reunite director Christopher Nolan for his wormhole space epic.  As of right now, Matthew McConaughey is the only confirmed cast member, but expect more announcement to begin rolling out as the leads are locked down.

UNTITLED ABSCAM PROJECT (2013) (previously American Bullshit)

Robert DeNiro and Michael Pena will accompany Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Dawn Olivieri, Thomas Matthews, and Louis C.K. in David O. Russell’s now-filming production that is based on a true story.

JANE GOT A GUN (2014)

Bradley Cooper has replaced Jude Law as the villain in Lynn Ramsey’s Gavin O’Connor’s western.  He joins Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Rodrigo Santoro, and O’Connor regular Noah Emmerich on the hopefully no longer-troubled production.  Cooper will film his work on the tail end of shooting after he wraps his portion of David O. Russell’s aforementioned ABSCAM project.

CRIMSON PEAK (2014)

Jessica Chastain has jumped on board Guillermo Del Toro’s period Gothic haunted house tale, which is scheduled to begin production in February 2014.  She joins the already-attached Emma Stone, Charlie Hunnam, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

HERCULES 3D (2014)

Millennium Films has gone and done it again!  After beating Sony’s Channing Tatum-starring White House Down to the punch this year with their Gerry Butler-fronted Olympus Has Fallen, they are primed to pull a similar stunt in 2014.  Renny Harlin will direct Kellan Lutz as the titular Greek superhero this summer for the company, which has its eye set on beating MGM/Paramount’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars into theaters next year.  Lutz is currently the only actor on board the project, but expect that to change soon if Millennium wants to beat its rival (currently set for July 2014) to the silver screen.  While the competing project has the lackluster Brett Ratner at the helm, it does boast a nice cast:  Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, etc…so Millennium has their work cut out for them.

A MAN WILL RISE (2014) (previously Local Hero)

Dolph Lundgren and Tony Jaa have joined forces as villain and hero (respectively) for an East-meets-West action comedy.  How badass is that?!?  The film is an action film with comedy elements set in 1950’s Thailand. A local gangster terrorizes a town. When a young local man stands up to the gangster the villain brings in a group of foreign hit men who like to dress as cowboys to pacify the town. Ultimately only one man can rise up to bring them down and save the town.  The cast also includes Conan Stevens, David Ismalone, and Jakkrit Kanokpodjananon.

BEWARE THE NIGHT (2014)

Scott Derrickson’s supernatural detective thriller has scored its three leads:  Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, and Olivia Munn.  Bana will portray a New York city policeman tasked with a disturbing case that leads him to cross paths with a renegade priest (Ramirez), who insists that something demonic is at work.  The two will encounter various paranormal entities as they solve the case together.  Munn will play Bana’s wife.

DIVERGENT (2014)

Mekhi Phifer and Ray Stevenson have boarded Neil Burger’s adaptation of the popular young adult science fiction novel (the first in a trilogy, naturally), which began production recently in Chicago.  They join the likes of Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Aaron Eckhart, Theo James, Maggie Q, and Zoe Kravitz.

 

DRACULA (TBA)

Luke Evans has scored the titular role in Universal’s revamp of Bram Stoker’s legendary character.  The film, previously titled Dracula: Year Zero, will focus on the Count’s origins as Vlad of Transylvania and the events that lead him to become the world’s most infamous vampire.  Gary Shore is directing and the project has been placed on the fast-track.  Between this, Len Wiseman’s The Mummy, Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, and the Tom Cruise-starring Van Helsing project, Universal is deadset on making their monster revival finally come to fruition.  If this film plays well, don’t be surprised if you see Cruise vs. Evans in the latter project in a few years.

POMPEII (2014)

Paul W.S. Anderson’s historical disaster film has added Jessica Lucas to its deck of cards that already contains Kit Harrington, Keifer Sutherland, Emily Browning, Jared Harris, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbadje.  Say what you will about Alien vs. Predator and Resident Evil films, but he CAN still craft an entertaining pulp flick from time to time.  The fun romp that was The Three Musketeers (2011) proved that.

ANCHORMAN 2 (2013) (previously Anchorman: The Legend Continues)

Nicole Kidman, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson have joined the production of the comedy sequel.  Kidman’s role will be a cameo, whereas the other two will be reprising their parts from the first film.

THE JUDGE (2014)

Leighton Meester has join the cast of David Dobkin’s drama that stars Robert Downey Jr. as a hot shot lawyer who comes home for his mother’s funeral and is quickly thrust into a murder trial where his father (Robert Duvall) is the accused.  While piecing together the events that lead to this scenario, he rekindles his relationships with family and old friends.  Vera Farmiga, Dax Shepard, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Billy Bob Thornton also star.

HIGHWAYMEN (TBA)

Liam Neeson and Woody Harrelson are teaming up for John Lee Hancock’s Texas Ranger drama that is based on the life of Frank Hamer, the man who was pressured to help track down and kill Bonnie & Clyde.  No word on a production timeline as of yet, but here’s hoping this tonally lands closer to A Perfect World than his family film’s on Hancock’s spectrum of work.

 

RICKY STANICKY (TBA)

Jim Carrey is re-teaming with director Steve Oedekerk (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls) for a comedy about a group of friends who have blamed all of their past troubles on the fictional titular friend and find themselves in a quandary when their wives finally insist on meeting him.  In desperation, they hire an actor (Carrey) to play the elusive Mr. Stanicky.

KUNG FU PANDA 3 (2015)

Bryan Cranston, Mads Mikkelsen, and Rebel Wilson will be voicing new characters in the third installment of DreamWorks Animation’s wonderful animated film series.  Jack Black, Seth Rogen, and Angelina Jolie have already been confirmed to return and I suspect the remainder of the series’ mainstays will soon board the project in an official capacity as well.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND (Fall 2013)

Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee!!!) will be voicing The White Rabbit in ABC’s spin-off of their popular series, Once Upon A Time.  The sidequel show will premiere later this year and a small preview of it will be broadcast after the finale of OUAT‘s current season.

TAMMY (2014)

Allison Janney will play Melissa McCarthy’s mother in New Line’s road trip comedy.  McCarthy plays the titular woman who hits the pavement with her vulgar alcoholic grandmother (Susan Sarandon) after losing her job and discovering her husband’s infidelity.  Mark Duplass, Kathy Bates, and Dan Aykroyd also star.

 A WALK IN THE WOODS (2014)

Robert Redford and Nick Nolte will co-star in the comedic drama about a pair of old friends who have reunited for a hike along the Appalachian Trail.  Richard Linklater will direct the long in-development project, which at one time would have reunited Redford with Paul Newman.  A fall start date is being eyed.

ELIZA GRAVES (2014)

Jim Sturgess and Kate Beckinsale will star in Brad Anderson’s Poe-inspired thriller that takes place in a mental institution where the inmates are secretly running the asylum.  Filming begins this summer.

DRAFT DAY (2014)

Jennifer Garner is in talks to play the secretary of Kevin Costner’s lead in Ivan Reitman’s football comedy.  The project is based on a much-prized Black List screenplay and will begin production later in the year.

CINDERELLA (TBA)

Lily James, Bella Heathcoate, and Margot Robbie are the latest three actress to be circling the title role in Kenneth Branagh’s live action adaptation for Disney.  The project already counts Cate Blanchett (as the wicked stepmother) and Richard Madden (as Prince Charming) among its ranks.  Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried both previously flirted with the project.