 The adaptation of fairy tale musical Into the Woods is ramping up towards it’s fall production with a ton of casting announcements coming our way. Earlier this week it was announced that Chris Pine, reaching the ubiquitous phase of his career, was in talks to join the film as one of the Princes, along with Jake Gyllenhaal. Emily Blunt and Christine Baranski have also joined the previously announced cast of Meryl Streep as the Witch and Johnny Depp as the Wolf. Read more on Pine, Gyllenhaal, Blunt and Baranski heading ‘Into the Woods’…
 If luck is a lady, we might be seeing two of the rising stars of the silver screen in a movie musical. Earlier today, reports came out that Fox was planning to remake Guys and Dolls. Not surprising given the rampant remake culture in Hollywood and the enduring popularity of the musical, but was surprising was the rumors that Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon Levitt are being courted to star in the picture, playing the roles Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando played in the 1955 film. Producers no doubt are trying to capture some of the charisma both men showed in their brief moments during the past Academy Award ceremony.
Read more on Could Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon Levitt star in Guys and Dolls?…
 Other than history books, Hollywood is primarily responsible for keeping stories about World War II in the public consciousness and war films are often proving grounds for young male actors. Shia LaBeouf is hoping to join in that long history by boarding Fury, the World War II film written and to be directed David Ayer. The film, which also stars Brad Pitt, will follow the commander of a Sherman tank and its five-man crew on a mission behind enemy lines. Story is set in April 1945 as Nazi Germany collapses.
Read more on Shia LaBeouf to fight Nazis with Brad Pitt in WWII film ‘Fury’…
 The new trailer dropped for the new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth. Encompassing an all-star cast that includes Damien Lewis of Showtime’s hit-show “Homeland,” Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti, and Lesley Manville, the film looks to be an interesting mix of star and scenery.
Guy Lodge of Hit Fix reported yesterday that the talented Steinfeld has joined Tommy Lee Jones’ next directorial effort, The Homesman in which he stars along with John Lithgow, Meryl Streep, James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, Hilary Swank, and an array of celebrity actors. After her nomination for The Coen Brothers’ True Grit (2010) in which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, the beautiful, young up-and-comer hasn’t been capitalizing on her success until now. According to her IMDb page, she is scheduled for six films to drop this year including Romeo and Juliet and The Homesman. Read more on Trailer Drops for ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Steinfield Set for a Big Year…
 After being announced recently that Matthew McConaughey will be starring in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Deadline is reporting that recent Academy Award Winner Anne Hathaway is close to signing on for a role.
Read more on Anne Hathaway Set to Star in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’…
 Between Selena Gomez starring in Spring Breakers, Zac Efron trying to shed his pretty boy image in At Any Price, and Lidnsey Lohan just being herself, young Disney stars have been involved in some interesting things lately. Next on tap to try and move past his Disney past is Nick Jonas, who has signed on for the thriller Careful What You Wish For. The film, to be directed by Vampire Diaries director Elizabeth Allen, tells the story of a young man named Doug (Jonas)who gets more than he bargained for when he starts having an affair with Lena (Isabel Lucas), the young wife of an investment banker renting the lake house next door for the summer. The husband’s suspicious death reveals a substantial life insurance policy and everyone is a suspect.
Read more on Nick Jonas to have an affair with Isabel Lucas in ‘Careful What You Wish For’…
 I know we have some big Broadway afficianados like myself who are longing for more movie musicals, preferably cast with people who can sing. Luckily the producers of The Last 5 Years understand this and have cast rising star Jeremy Jordan to sing alongside Anna Kendrick in the adaptation of the musical. Jordan will play a rising novelist in the tale of a five year relationship with a struggling actress (Kendrick). The musical is unique in that the stories are told in different orders, with Cathy’s story beginning at the end of the marriage and Jamie’s starting with when the couple first met.
Read more on Jeremy Jordan to relive ‘The Last 5 Years’ with Anna Kendrick…
 With Twilight mania all but over, Kristen Stewart will now be able to distance herself from that all consuming franchise and embark on the next part of her career. Warner Bros has tapped the actress to star alongside Ben Affleck in the film Focus. Stewart would play an inexperienced con artist who hooks up (professionally and yes, romatically) with the more seasoned Affleck. The duo behind Crazy, Stupid, Love, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, will write and direct the film.
Read more on Kristen Stewart to learn the con artist ropes alongside Affleck in ‘Focus’…
 Three Oscar nominees and Guy Pearce walk onto a set…sounds like a setup of an interesting joke, but is instead a reality for the makers of the film Hateship, Friendship. Kristen Wiig, Hailee Steinfeld, Nick Nolte, and the aforementioned Guy Pearce have all signed on to star in the film about a nanny (Wiig) hired to care for a rather wild teenage girl (Steinfled). Using email, the girl orchestrates a romance between the nanny and the father (Pearce), a recovering addict living in a different town. Nolte would play the girl’s grandfather who blames the father for the death of his daughter.
Read more on Steinfeld, Wiig, Pearce and Nolte sign up for ‘Hateship, Friendship’…
 Justin Timberlake’s transition to acting has been quite a mixed bag with movies ranging from the great (The Social Network, Black Snake Moan) to the decent (Friends with Benefits) to the terrible (In Time). He’s currently on screen with Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve but for his next project he’ll be moving away from the diamond to the word of food critics in The Last Drop. Timberlake will play a charming alcoholic who works as a restaurant critic for New York Magazine. When he falls for a young woman, he realizes he must overcome his self-destructive addiction in order to have a real chance with her. Read more on Justin Timberlake to play an alcoholic food critic in the romantic comedy ‘The Last Drop’…
The next big film festival of the year has started in the Big Apple ladies and gents, and I’m proud to be covering it for The Awards Circuit alongside our fearless leader Clayton. The high-profile titles begin screening next week, but there’s already things being shown at P & I (Press and Industry) screenings with the On the Arts and Cinema Reflected sidebars. Thursday had On The Arts sidebar films “The Savoy King: Chick Webb & The Music That Changed America,” “Ingrid Caven: Voice And Music,” as well as “Becoming Traviata.” Friday focused on the Cinema Reflected sidebar with “The War Of The Volcanoes,” “The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling,” and “Casting By,” a documentary about the unheralded work of the casting director on films. It was followed by a press conference by director Tom Donahue. Read more on NYFF: The 50th New York Film Festival gets underway!…
Categories: Article Tags: casting, Casting By, casting director, Casting directors, Charlie Is My Darling, Chick Webb & The Music, Cinema Reflected, Directors Guild of America, documentary, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, Ingrid Caven, joey's articles, Lynn Stalmaster, Marion Dougherty, New York City, New York Film Festival, New York Film Festival diaries, Oscar, Side by Side, Tom Donahue, Voice And Music
 Despite my adoration for ‘Kick-Ass’, I must say that I’m more dreading the sequel than anything else. I sure hope that ‘Kick-Ass 2′ turns out to be good, but losing Matthew Vaughn’s direction is a big deal in my book. At the very least though, there’s an effort being made to keep the cast top notch, as Collider is reporting here that a supporting role will be played by none other than Jim Carrey. This is definitely not his normal sort of movie, and perhaps that will benefit both him and the film. After the jump you can find out who he’s playing, but I sure hope this flick works, or at least doesn’t sully my fond memories of its predecessor. Read on below for more…
Read more on Jim Carrey officially joins the cast of ‘Kick-Ass 2′…
 When it comes to Lars von Trier and his movies, it’s wise to just expect the unexpected from him. He’s constantly doing unique thing, and The Hollywood Reporter says here that one of his oddest decisions could be just around the corner. He might be casting Shia LaBeouf in his next film, the erotic drama ‘Nymphomaniac’. The flick is certainly a far cry from the ‘Transformers’ franchise, so for LaBeouf this is a nice career move. After the jump you can see some more about the film, but stay tuned for the official word on this juicy story. More can be found below…
Read more on Shia LaBeouf is in talks to co-star in ‘Nymphomaniac’…
Categories: News Tags: casting, Entertainment/Culture, Films, Lars von Trier, Nymphomaniac, Paramount films, random, Shia LaBeouf, Stellan Skarsgard, The Hollywood Reporter, transformers, upcoming projects
 A couple of months ago the rumor mill was filled to the brim with who Alexander Payne was looking to cast in his next film ‘Nebraska’. Lots of names were floated, mostly A-list elder statesmen and up and coming younger actors (comparatively at least), though apparently Payne had settled in on a more unique teaming of Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Nothing was set in stone, though now The Playlist is reporting here that the film has gotten a green light and Dern/Forte are set to officially star. After the jump you can see a quick refresher on what the movie will be about, but I’m definitely intrigued by this one, as I am by any project the filmmaker gets his hands on. Do we have an upcoming Oscar contender on our hands? Time will tell, but read on below for more on the flick…
Read more on Bruce Dern and Will Forte on board for Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’…
 Todd Field has only made two movies to date, but they’ve both been so good that already he’s looked at somewhat as a master of the craft. He’s easily two for two with ‘In The Bedroom’ and ‘Little Children’, and he’s looking to go even darker with his third film. He’s planning another adaptation, this time the novel ‘Creed of Violence’, and Variety is reporting here that he’s talking heavily with Christian Bale for the lead role, which is a pretty ideal teaming in my eyes. After the jump you can see what the film is going to be about, but for me, anything Field and/or Bale (though more so Field than Bale, honestly) get involved with has my undivided attention. Read on for more…
Read more on Christian Bale is negotiating to star in Todd Field’s third film…
 Anyone who likes Cameron Crowe as much as I do will be thrilled with this latest news that hit a few days ago. I enjoyed ‘We Bought a Zoo’ more than I probably should have, and I’ll defend ‘Elizabethtown’ to the grave, but I’ve been hankering for another top notch Crowe flick, and The Hollywood Reporter is saying here that I might just get another chance at that next year. Crowe has a new original screenplay set up at Sony, and he has Emma Stone set to take the lead female role. Apparently they’re now searching for a leading man, and after the jump I’ll propose a few names that I’d like to see the filmmaker pair Stone with. There’s no word on the plot right now, but I’m sure we’ll find out about that soon enough (it might even be a new version of a Hawaii-set flick he’d wanted to make with Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon a few years back, if you go by some of the rumors). See the names I’d like to have in contention for the lead part below…
Read more on Emma Stone to star in Cameron Crowe’s next film!…
Categories: News Tags: Andrew Garfield, Anton Yelchin, Cameron Crowe, casting, Emile Hirsch, emma stone, Film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Paul Dano, Reese Witherspoon, rumors, upcoming projects
 Despite the issues that I had with ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, easily the best part of that flick was the lead performance of young actress Quvenzhane Wallis. She’s certainly someone to watch, and it looks like she’ll soon be appearing in a very high profile Oscar contender next year, the film ‘Twelve Years A Slave’. The Playlist is reporting here that she’s joined the cast of Steve McQueen’s highly anticipated film and you can see in the image above/to your right that she’s already on set and performing with the likes of Chiwetel Ejifor. After the jump you can see who she’s co-starring with, but it seems like every month this movie gets more and more interesting to me. I really can’t wait to see it. Read on below for Wallis’ cohorts in the flick…
Read more on Quvenzhane Wallis joins Steve McQueen’s ‘Twelve Years A Slave’!…
 One of the bits that I forgot to share when I wrote up my interviews with the cast and crew of ‘Ruby Sparks’ was that directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris really hoped that the film would help get more people to discover Zoe Kazan, something I’ve championed for a few years now. At least to some degree, they’ve already been successful, as The Playlist is reporting here that Kazan has scored the lead role in ‘The F Word’, a highly regarded script that was once set up at Fox Searchlight with Casey Affleck in one of the main roles and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Deborah Ann Woll, Rose Byrne, and Rebecca Hall duking it out for the other. It’s finally gotten the green light and will go before the cameras. After the jump you can get the details on the project, but it’s certainly one I’m interested in seeing.
Read more on Zoe Kazan joins Daniel Radcliffe in “The F Word”…
 I’ll admit it…I’m a sucker for almost all of Disney’s sports movies, and a complete sucker for Kevin Costner’s forays into the genre, mostly baseball related (I adore ‘For Love of the Game’ in a way that few people seem to). This made a teaming up of Costner and the studio seem like only a matter of time, and according to The Hollywood Reporter here, that’s just what’s happening. The movie is called ‘McFarland’, and he’ll be the coach of a sports team in that town. After the jump you can see a little more on what the film is about, but count me in. I’m always down for sports flicks, and this likely will be no exception…
Read more on Kevin Costner to star in Disney’s latest sports film…
 Casting News
True Blood star Sam Trammell and Descendants actor Nick Krause join White Rabbit – The Hollywood Reporter
In a project that sound similar in name to the one above, Shailene Woodley has joined the cast of Greg Akari’s White Bird – Variety
Angela Bassett, Aaron Eckhart, Ashley Judd and Robert Forrester have joined the cast of Olympus Has Fallen, one of the dueling White House themed action projects thats taken Hollywood by storm.
The sequel to the truly dreadful much maligned film X-Men Origins: Wolverine has found it’s villains in Will Yun Lee and Brian Tee – The Hollywood Reporter
Read more on Late Pass: Casting and Production News…
Categories: Article, Blog Tags: Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, casting, Dreamworks, Late Pass, news, Pacific Rim, Shailene Woodley, Universal, upcoming projects, Writers Guild of America
 I think Peter Berg is a filmmaker with a world of talent…he’s just never put it all together yet. Once he does though, we’re going to get a great movie. Could his next project be the one? Time will tell, but it’s certainly got a strong cast building for it, an adaptation of the non-fiction book ‘Lone Survivor’. The cast already has Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, and Taylor Kitsch involved, though now Variety is reporting here that Emile Hirsch is going to be rounding out the cast with the final leading role. After the jump you can see a bit about the book, but it’s a strong premise, I assure you. Find out more about it below…
Read more on Emile Hirsch to co-star in Peter Berg’s next film…
 As we all know by now, Steven Spielberg likes to mix his more Oscar friendly fare with some action in between whenever possible. Last year, it was the combination of ‘War Horse’ with ‘The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn’, and now he’s following up ‘Lincoln’, his latest shot at Oscar, with an epic sic-fi action movie called ‘Robopocalypse’. According to The Playlist here, he wants Chris Hemsworth to be in the lead, and I think that’s a fine choice. There’s no word on is Hemsworth is set for the role, but it may very well come to fruition. After the jump you can see what the book that Spielberg is basing the film on is about, but it sounds good to me. Check it out below…
Read more on Steven Spielberg wants Chris Hemsworth in ‘Robopocalypse’…
 When it comes to Wes Anderson (especially of late), I often find myself admiring one part of his work while shaking my head at another. When it comes to Johnny Depp, I often can praise his talent and dedication to the role while being borderline disgusted by the types of roles he’s been taking recently. Now, word comes from Deadline here that Anderson has cast Depp as his lead in his next project. It’s called The Grand Budapest Hotel, and after the jump you can see who else might be in it, but suffice to say this flick could either be just what both men need or a real mess in the making. We shall see, but take a look below at who might be joining Depp.
Read more on Johnny Depp will star in Wes Anderson’s next movie?…
 One day, Tobey Maguire will be an Oscar nominee. He made a strong play for a nod a few years ago with ‘Brothers’, and while he doesn’t always pick projects that properly utilize his skill set, he does however often work with interesting filmmakers. The Playlist is reporting here that he’s adding Jason Reitman to that list, taking on a small role for the director’s next film ‘Labor Day’. The story also says that he won’t be in Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’ though, so you win some, you lose some. After the jump you can see who he’s playing in the flick, but I do like the direction his career is going. Read on below for more on Maguire’s role in Reitman’s film…
Read more on Tobey Maguire will be in Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’!…
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