With Paramount’s World War Z finally looking to begin shooting this summer, it only seems natural that the cast would be starting to take form. Deadline‘s Mike Fleming reports Mireille Enos (“The Killing,” “Big Love”) has entered negotiations to play Karin Lane, the wife of Gerard Lane, the character played by the long-attached Brad Pitt. While it once seemed Paramount would balk at the chance to have director Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) bring Max Brooks’ zombie epic to the big screen due to its $125 million budget, the film is now back on track after bringing in a couple of risk-sharing partners. I haven’t seen Enos in anything, but what do you think? Solid casting for the wife of Pitt’s character?
TRON: Legacy helmer Joseph Kosinski is looking to direct Archangel, a sci-fi flick focusing on a secret unit of the military hunts down aliens living among us, for Scott Free Productions. Kosinski’s next project is expected to be Horizons (aka Oblivion), with Tom Cruise attached to star, so Archangel is likely still several years away.
Ray Park confirmed via Twitter that he will return to play Snake Eyes in the G.I. Joe 2, putting an end to months of speculation. Phew — I’m so relieved. The wait for that announcement was unbearable.
Deadline reports Chris Diamantopoulos has emerged as the frontrunner for the role of Moe in Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s The Three Stooges. Diamantopoulos had a recurring role on “24” in 2010 and most recently portrayed Frank Sinatra in an episode of “The Kennedys,” which I’m just not seeing but that’s not the issue here. The Farrellys’ supposedly searched high and low for the right Moe to join Will Sasso (“$#*! My Dad Says”) as Curly and Sean Hayes (“Will & Grace”) as Larry, but this cast is a far cry from the initially attached Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Jim Carrey. I can’t help but wonder if the film’s budget was slashed after the Farrelly’s Hall Pass cost them any remaining pull they may have had left.
Memphis, the Martin Luther King assassination film from Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supermacy/Ultimatum), has been put on the backburner with the director now reportedly placing priority on an adaptation of the John D. MacDonald novel The Deep Blue Good-by. Oliver Stone once considered the film before opting to make Savages. The project is being developed as a starring vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, who would star as an off-the-grid beach bum who works as a “salvage consultant,” recovering property for clients and taking a big percentage. I’m guessing the fate of this project hinges on DiCaprio’s availability outside his commitments in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar and Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby.
Speaking of Savages, Oliver Stone’s film is shaping up with one of the most exciting casts I can recall in recent years. In addition to the previously cast Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Salma Hayek and Benicio Del Toro, the film has added Blake Lively (The Town) as the central female character O, Uma Thurman as her mother and John Travolta as a burned out DEA agent. Teresa Palmer and Olivia Wilde are a couple of the actresses Lively beat out for the highly coveted role. Variety reports Emile Hirsch has also joined the project in an undisclosed role.
Vera Farmiga has joined Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in the CIA thriller Safe House. She’ll play a CIA operative supervising Reynolds’ character. Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Liam Cunningham (Clash of the Titans) round out the stellar cast. The film is now shooting and has set a February 10, 2012 release date.
Mark me as one of the confused when Drew Pearce was announced as the Iron Man 3 screenwriter, especially since the film’s director, Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), made his name as the screenwriter of action-comedies like Lethal Weapon. Well, it turns out Black will write the film after all, though Cinema Blend reports Pearce will stick around as either a co-writer or supervisor of sorts. I’m sure we’ll get a more thorough breakdown of their roles as production nears.
Incendies director Denis Villenueve will direct Prisoners for Warner Bros. In the vein of other recent Taken-like vigilante features, the film centers on a working-class Boston father who takes hostage the man he believes is responsible for his daughter’s kidnapping. The film has been in pre-production for years with Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) among the directors previously on board and the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star at various stages, though The L.A. Times reports the project is currently looking for other cast members to replace them.
And finally, Russell Crowe is considering making his directorial debut with 77, a period cop film from writer James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential, Dark Blue). He is also hoping to star in the drama, which connects two stories from 1974: the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer and the nationally televised shootout in South Central L.A. between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD, where 50,000 rounds of gunfire were exchanged. Word is Crowe has been itching to direct for some time, but personally, I’m just waiting for Crowe to reaffirm himself as a major movie star after his recent efforts have floundered.
