Singh’s War is Now Story of Immortals: It was originally titled Dawn of War, then War of the Gods and now Tarsem Singh’s new film will be titled Immortals. Filming began on the picture this week in Montreal as it follows the battles waged by Theseus (Henry Cavill), a warrior from Greek mythology, who leads a fight against the imprisoned titans in a story where gods fight alongside mortals. Phaedra (Freida Pinto), an oracle priestess joins Theseus on his quest to prevent the cataclysmic war from erupting.
The film also stars Kellan Lutz, Mickey Rourke and Stephen Dorff. New to the cast are John Hurt and Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). Hurt will portray the earthly manifestation of the god Zeus, who acts as a mentor and teacher to the Theseus. Lucas will play Athena, the daughter of Zeus who finds her loyalty tested as the war between the gods and Titans looms. The film is already set to hit theaters on November 11, 2011.
Focus Reaches Heights with Hedges: Nope, it’s not related to the 2005 film Heights or Andrea Arnold’s upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation. Instead this is The Heights, an adaptation of Peter Hedges’s new novel of which he will also adapt into a screenplay and direct for Focus Features. The story centers on a contemporary couple raising their children in the beautiful, affluent Brooklyn neighborhood from which the book draws its name. Young parents Tim and Kate Welch have a relationship other couples envy, but their seemingly perfect world is turned upside down by the arrival of alluring, wealthy new neighbors.
Platt Picks Oranges: Oliver Platt has joined the cast of Julian Farino’s The Oranges. Platt joins previously cast Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Leighton Meester, Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat and Allison Janney. Laurie plays the lead role as a man whose romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend throws the lives of the two families into upheaval. Production is currently underway in New York.
Ryder is One of Ron Howard’s Cheaters: In a short casting announcement, Winona Ryder has been cast in Cheaters joining Vince Vaughn and Kevin James in the comedy to be directed by Ron Howard for Universal. The story centers on two best friends and business partners (Vaughn and James), one of which is tortured when he observes his pal’s wife (Ryder) getting intimate with another man in a restaurant. Should he tell? [Deadline]
National Treasure 3 Scribes Set: The Prince of Persia screenwriting duo of Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro are set to write the script for National Treasure 3 for director Jon Turteltaub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Casting has not been confirmed though it is likely Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha would return for the third film in the franchise and perhaps they can even get Jon Voight and Helen Mirren back once again. As to the rumors the film would involve the lost city of Atlantis, Turteltaub recently debunked such chatter before giving the obvious reason why they’re making another film saying, “They pay us so much money, why wouldn’t we want to make that movie? Are you kidding?” [Coming Soon and MovieWeb]
Smurfs add Clumsy and Brainy Smurf: In a press release yesterday Sony announced the start of production on The Smurfs as well as announced Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) would voice Clumsy Smurf and “SNL’s” Fred Armisen (best known for his awful Barack Obama impression) would voice Brainy Smurf. Also revealed was the film’s official synopsis:
When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours – in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.
The Smurfs is set for an August 3, 2011 release.
Nick and Nora Helmer Tackles Marvel’s Runaways: Peter Sollett (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist) is negotiating to direct Runaways based on Brian K. Vaughan’s Marvel comic dealing with children of supervillains housed in a secret lair under the La Brea Tar Pits and cursed with evil powers though they use them for heroic purposes. Joss Whedon wrote installments of the comic when Vaughan was unavailable and Whedon was recently rumored for the directing gig though that obviously didn’t come to fruition. [Deadline]
Thirlby to Battle Aliens in Darkest Hour: Olivia Thirlby (Juno) is set to star in The Darkest Hour at Summit for director Chris Gorak, who’s best known as the art director on films such as Fight Club and Minority Report. Gorak’s first feature film was 2006’s Right at Your Door. Gorak and Josh Zetumer are working on the script which is set in Moscow and follows a group of Americans traveling in the city when an alien invasion occurs. Thirlby plays a trust fund girl trying to survive the attack who teams up with others to try to defeat the invaders. Wanted helmer Timur Bekmambetov is part of the film’s producing team as filming is expected to get underway this summer in Moscow. [Heat Vision]
RUMORS: Megan Fox is rumored to have been approached for the lead role in Red Sonja and Harrison Ford may be joining Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2 follow-up Cowboys and Aliens. Should the rumors prove true I’ll write more about them when they become official. [Pajiba and Latino Review]
