William Hurt Tells 'Winter's Tale'; Margo Martindale Moves To 'Osage County'; Terrence Howard Has 'A Girl And A Gun' & More

It's a good week for dream projects with Akiva Goldsman involved, with Warner Bros. helping to make them come true. With the studio now taking a very close look at Ron Howard's sprawling "The Dark Tower," they are also flipping the switch on the long-developing "Winter's Tale." Set to mark Goldsman's directorial debut, the fantasy will be led by Colin Farrell and "Downton Abbey" star Jessica Findlay-Brown with Will Smith and Russell Crowe in small roles, in the story that follows a thief who breaks into a wealthy man’s home, sparking a relationship with the man’s terminally ill daughter. Reincarnation, a flying horse, and a time-shift of 100 years all play a part in the plot. William Hurt has now joined the film, and will be playing the father of the dying girl. Production begins in October. [Deadline]

The cast for the Oscar bait-y "August: Osage County" keeps getting better and better, now adding the excellent Margo Martindale ("Justified") to the cast. She joins Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Abigail Breslin, Juliette Lewis and Chris Cooper in the adaptation of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize winning play that follows the women of the Weston family whose lives have splintered in many directions until their alcoholic father's disappearance brings them back to their childhood home and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Martindale will be playing Mattie Fay Aiken, wife of Cooper's Charles Aiken and sister of Violet Weston played by Streep. She'll join the cast and crew on set in September. [Deadline] 

Terrence Howard and Juno Temple will make an unlikely pair in the indie "A Girl And A Gun." Set to be directed by Filip Jan Rymsza who also wrote the script, the film will follow Ian, a hustler with big dreams in Hollywood, who tries to intervene in a mugging and "gets pulled into a world of intrigue." We hope this isn't as straight-to-DVD as it sounds, but with Christopher Walken and Luis Guzman rounding out the cast, it could go either way. Production will begin this fall. [Deadline]

Lastly, Paul Schrader's currently filming indie "The Canyons," with porn star James Deen and Lindsay Lohan, has added Amanda Brooks and Lauren Schacher to the cast. The film is a contemporary L.A. noir, exploring the dangers of sexual obsession and ambition, both personally and professionally, among a group of young people in their 20s and how one chance meeting connected to the past unravels all of their lives, resulting in deceit, paranoia and ultimately violence. Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning is penning the score and we're intrigued to see how this one will turn out. [Variety]