Thompson on Hollywood

CASTING WATCH: Hooper's Les Miserables Adds Redmayne to All Star Cast of Jackman, Crowe, Hathaway

Tom Hooper's The King's Speech follow-up, the screen adaptation of the global hit musical Les Miserables, just added Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn, The Good Shepherd) to its all-star cast. As Marius, Redmayne will join Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert) and Anna Hathaway (Fantine).

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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November 1, 2011 8:13 AM
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CASTING WATCH: Gordon-Levitt and LaPaglia Join Tarantino's Django Unchained as Aussie Brothers

It's official: Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is getting Joseph Gordon Levitt and Anthony LaPaglia to play hick Australian brothers; small parts, but crucial, reports ThePlaylist, to key scenes at the end of the script. (LaPaglia is an Aussie.)

By Sophia Savage
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October 31, 2011 8:25 AM
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CASTING WATCH: Wilde, Buscemi & Gandolfini Join Carell & Carrey; Goodman Joins Coen's Inside Llewyn

- James Gandolfini is in talks to join Steve Carell and Jim Carrey in Burt Wonderstone. Carell plays a burned out magician, Carrey plays his flashier rival, and Gandofini will play the owner of the Las Vegas casino where Carell works. 30 Rock's Don Scardino is directing from a script rewritten by Jason Reitman. UPDATE: Olivia Wilde has won the female lead (Carell's love interest), and Steve Buscemi (Wonderstone's friend and partner) is on board as well.

By Sophia Savage
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October 31, 2011 5:11 AM
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AFM News: Sean Penn To Direct Robert De Niro and Kristin Wiig in The Comedian

Sean Penn will direct Robert De Niro and Kristen Wiig in The Comedian. Art Linson and Jeffrey Ross wrote the script to be produced by Linson, De Niro and Jon Kilik. Production is slated for Spring 2012, and FilmNation is handling international sales at the upcoming American Film Market (they've also got Gambit, Relativity's Snow White, Wettest County, Looper, Under the Skin, The Oranges, Terrence Malick's untitled film and more).

By Sophia Savage
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October 27, 2011 6:29 AM
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Butler, Worthington & McConaughey Set for CG 3-D Thunder Run: True Story from Baghdad Front Lines

As Marc Forster's biopic Machine Gun Preacher stumbles at the box office and Ralph Fiennes' upcoming Shakespeare drama Coriolanus is more likely to play for the Academy crowd than general audiences, Gerard Butler is heading back toward action fare. He's set to star with Sam Worthington and Matthew McConaughey in Iraq war movie Thunder Run, a CG 3-D action-thriller from macho director Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider, The Mechanic).

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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October 27, 2011 6:21 AM
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CASTING WATCH: Who Should Play Grace Kelly in Upcoming Grace of Monaco?

Features

Grace of Monaco, a spec script by Arash Amel, has been acquired by Pierre-Ange Le Pogam (through his new Stone Angel production and financing banner). Given the competitive level of interest in the script, the film about Grace Kelly, who was both Hollywood and actual royalty--will likely be gearing up sooner than later. The script looks at a six-month period of Kelly's life during 1962 when, as THR puts it, "the city-state got into a heated dispute with France, which grew tired of the petite principality being a tax haven. Kelly, still relatively new in her role as princess, maneuvered behind the scenes to save Monaco from a coup. Insiders have compared the script to King's Speech in scope and tone."

By Sophia Savage
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October 26, 2011 8:20 AM
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Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave: Brad Pitt To Star with Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor

We knew that Plan B was producing Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave, but we didn't know that main man Brad Pitt would take on a role in the period drama, alongside Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor. This project just keeps sounding better. Fassbender and Pitt together in the same film is almost too good to be true (wait a second, they co-starred in Tarantino's Inglourious Bastards); let's hope further casting updates on this project are as promising.

By Sophia Savage
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October 25, 2011 12:00 PM
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CASTING WATCH: John Cusack and Malin Akerman Hop On Board The Numbers Station

John Cusack, who's been busy with James McTeigue's The Raven (March 2012; the goods from Comic-Con), Lee Daniels' The Paperboy (in post; details) and Scott Walker's Frozen Ground (filming) has boarded The Number Station, along with Malin Akerman. Directed by Dane Kasper Barfoed and written by F. Scott Frazier, the action thriller will begin shooting in November.

By Sophia Savage
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October 25, 2011 6:12 AM
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IN THE WORKS: Damon & Affleck Together Again for Bulger; Bana as Elvis; Akira Casting

It's about time. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will work together again along with Casey Affleck to bring life to the story of Whitey Bulger at Warner Bros. Bulger was a New England mob boss and subsequent 16-year fugitive before being caught in Santa Monica, CA, last June. Affleck will direct as well as co-produce and co-star with Damon, who will play Bulger. Neither of the Affleck brothers' roles are confirmed. It gets better: Boardwalk Empire writer and creator Terence Winter is writing the script, which will track the mobster's youth in Alcatraz, his rise to the top of the crime world and his secret involvement as an FBI informant.

By Sophia Savage
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October 24, 2011 11:04 AM
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Gordon-Levitt Talks To Tarantino About Django Unchained; Premium Rush Moves to August 2012

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in talks to join Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (check out the already awesome cast). His schedule is tight but having Premium Rush moved from a January to August 2012 release should help, as Tarantino intends to start shooting Django in New Orleans in January, when Gordon-Levitt would have been busy doing Rush press. With this film, plus Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln coming up, Gordon-Levitt shouldn't be too discouraged if he doesn't manage to build the momentum necessary for a 50/50 Oscar nomination. He's just getting started.