The Playlist

Emma Stone To Get Caught Between Ryan Gosling & Sean Penn In 'Gangster Squad'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 26, 2011 11:54 AM
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13 Comments

It looks like the sausage party of "Gangster Squad" is getting ready to add some estrogen into the mix, with another high profile bit of casting to add to the already awesomely/ridiculously stacked ensemble.

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Scheduling Forces Bryan Cranston Out Of Ruben Fleischer's 'Gangster Squad'

By Simon Dang
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July 20, 2011 3:19 AM
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9 Comments

There's just not enough of Bryan Cranston to go around in Hollywood.

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Exclusive: Ruben Fleischer Says 'Zombieland 2' Script Is Done, But Casts Some Doubts

By The Playlist
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July 17, 2011 5:42 AM
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2 Comments

Director Ruben Fleischer made a splash with his debut feature, the satirical genre film, "Zombieland." The surprise hit of summer 2009, the film grossed $102 million worldwide off a relatively low $23 million dollar budget. Not gangbusters numbers, but enough to jumpstart a career for Fleischer and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick who would go on to score coveted (or high-paying) writing assignments like "Deadpool" and "G.I. Joe 2."

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'Lights Out' Star Holt McCallany Will Protect Sean Penn In 'Gangster Squad'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 14, 2011 6:03 AM
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2 Comments

Even though the acclaimed FX boxing drama "Lights Out" has been canceled after one season, it looks like Holt McCallany is springing from the series into movies in a major way. He's already landed a role in the upcoming Sylvester Stallone/Walter Hill pic and now he's boarding one of the biggest studio dramas in the works right now.

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How Can The Cast Of 'Gangster Squad' Get Better? With Giovanni Ribisi

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 7, 2011 1:23 AM
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2 Comments

Warner Bros. and "Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer seem to be on a mission to make every other movie in the next year or two look bad with their period actioner "Gangster Squad." A hotly-tipped, Black List-ed script, by former L.A.P.D. cop Will Beall, based on a series of articles in the L.A. Times, the 1940s-set tale has been a priority at the studio for most of the year, and has been assembling one of the most promising casts in recent memory.

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Bryan Cranston Has The Best Agent In Hollywood, Now Joins 'Gangster Squad'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 30, 2011 2:47 AM
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6 Comments

Come Christmas time, we hope Bryan Cranston gets something really nice for his agent because the actor has been lining up one solid film after another. Just yesterday, Cranston boarded Ben Affleck's "Argo" and barely twenty-four hours have passed and now he's on another high-profile project.

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Anthony Mackie Joins Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin In 'Gangster Squad'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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June 10, 2011 5:20 AM
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3 Comments

Update: Jamie Foxx & Tom Hanks Courted For Project, Although Unlikely To End Up In FilmGod damn if Ruben Fleischer doesn't keep finding new ways to makes us excited about "Gangster Squad." The "Zombieland" director is moving into more serious territory with Warner Brothers' big-budget period actioner, and has assembled a mouth-watering cast of awards bait, with Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and "Crash" star Michael Peña all confirmed for the film, written by ex-cop Will Beall, based on a series of L.A. Times articles about an L.A.P.D unit in the 1940s.

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Ruben Fleischer Says Michael Peña Has Also Joined 'Gangster Squad'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 7, 2011 7:50 AM
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3 Comments

Also Confirms Josh Brolin As Part Of The CastMichael Peña is a great actor who we've been waiting to fall into the right project after breaking out with a strong turn in "Crash." To be fair, he's chosen roles that seemed good on paper but just didn't deliver for a variety of reasons -- "Lions For Lambs," "World Trade Center," "Shooter," "Battle: Los Angeles," "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done" -- but 2011 seems to find the actor on the uptick. He recently co-starred in the strong indie flick "Everything Must Go," this spring he was part of the sleeper hit "The Lincoln Lawyer" and he's got the comedy "30 Minutes Or Less" on the horizon. But now it looks like he's joining an incredibly top-shelf cast for one of the hottest projects on the Warner Bros. lot.

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Anthony Mackie Courted For 'World War Z' & 'Gangster Squad'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 30, 2011 4:37 AM
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0 Comments

If Anthony Mackie isn't a household name yet, that's likely soon to change. The actor has been putting in solid work for years, first popping onto the radar with fine turns in "Million Dollar Baby" and "Half Nelson," before having a helluva year in 2008 with the double whammy of "Notorious" where he memorably played Tupac Shakur and of course, "The Hurt Locker." That latter film, naturally, opened some big doors. He was already seen earlier this year in the surprisingly solid "The Adjustment Bureau" and he's got two more films on deck: he'll flex his comic muscles in the Anna Faris vehicle "What's Your Number" and then he'll star opposite Hugh Jackman in the robot boxing flick "Real Steel." This isn't even mentioning the films slated for next year already: "Ten Year" and the thriller "Man On A Ledge" (recently announced for a January 13, 2012 bow). And if that doesn't prove just how in-demand this rising actor is, this next bit should convince you.

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