Tom Cruise has signed on for a role in New Line’s adaptation of the hit stage musical Rock of Ages where he’ll play Stacee Jaxx, an arrogant and charming ’80s rocker at the height of his career who performs Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” in the theater production. From what I’ve read this will not be the lead role in the film, but rather a key supporting one. Anyone familiar with the production care to offer some insight? THR‘s story says Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand are also circling major roles.
To add to the Rock mayhem, Deadline brings news the next big name to join the cast might be Anne Hathaway as a journalist who falls victim to the charms of Cruise’s character. The two would also perform a duet of Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What Love Is.” There were once rumors suggesting Cruise wouldn’t attend this year’s Oscars after co-host Hathaway’s SNL impression of Katie Holmes. Could they have put their differences aside or has Tom merely lightened up a bit? Or maybe they were indeed just rumors…
In yesterday’s roundup I mentioned that Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man, About a Boy) was a front-runner for the lead in director Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Killer. Today, Deadline reports he’s been offered the role. Hoult will next be seen as The Beast in X-Men: First Class. Have you watched the trailer yet? General consensus seems to be “looks surprisingly good.”
Wayne Wang (Maid in Manhattan) will direct an Albert Einstein biopic from a script by Oscar-winner Rob Bass (Rain Man, Entrapment, My Best Friend’s Wedding). Einstein‘s producers will begin looking for their lead actor in the coming weeks.
Bad Ass Digest is the source of a rumor that has Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) directing a remake of ’80s car race film Cannonball Run with none other than George Clooney playing the Burt Reynolds part. It sounds like pure speculation at this point, but with a site name like that I’m certainly not going to argue with them!
Latino Review has the shortlist for directing the G.I. Joe sequel. The names are Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown), F. Gary Gray (The Negotiator, The Italian Job) and Bieber fever helmer John Chu. Not that I care to see another G.I. Joe movie, but Gray is clearly the best of the bunch, right? A report from earlier this week had Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way studio looking to develop a re-imagining of Bram Stoker’s Dracula for Collet-Serra, so where would this put him?
Charlize Theron has entered final negotiations to star opposite Noomi Rapace (the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Michael Fassbender in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. This is his Fox sci-fi tentpole that began as an Alien prequel before undergoing a bit of an overhaul although Fassbender in chatting with MTV indicates “there’s a definite connecting vein” between Alien and Prometheus.
Al Pacino is attached to play French artist Henri Matisse in Masterpiece, according to a Variety exclusive. Deepa Mehta (2007 Foreign Language Oscar nominee Water) will direct the romance based on Matisse’s relationship with his nurse Monique Bourgeois, who also served as his model and muse.
And finally, Gerard Butler will star for director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) in Mavericks, the true story of Santa Cruz surfer Jay Moriarity. The film centers on his quest to ride the treacherous Northern California breaks with waves the size of five-story buildings. Butler will play his mentor, while Hanson is searching for a young actor to play Moriarity. Sounds something like 127 Hours on water.
