Tom Hanks Confirmed to Star in CLOUD ATLAS; Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer to Co-Write and Direct
by Matt Goldberg Posted: April 12th, 2011
As early as last summer, we heard that Tom Hanks would star in an adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. Then there was confusion over who would be writing and directing: The Wachowski Siblings and/or Tom Tykwer. In January, Natalie Portman—who was also rumored to co-star—said that the Wachowskis and Tykwer were directing together. Today, we have confirmation on both facts with Deadline reporting that Hanks will star and that the Wachowskis and Tykwer will write and direct the movie.
Portman also said she had a small role in the film, but there’s currently no confirmation that she’s on board at this point. We’re also awaiting confirmation on whether or not James McAvoy and Halle Berry will be in the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting in September. Hit the jump for more on the project including a synopsis of the novel.
Joaquin Phoenix in Talks to Star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Untitled Religious Drama
by Matt Goldberg Posted: April 12th, 2011
After discovering that no one really cared about his retirement from acting or about the movie about his fake meltdown, Joaquin Phoenix may be getting back into the moving pictures (even though he never really left it). Variety reports that Joaquin Phoenix is in talks to join Philip Seymour Hoffman in Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled religious drama. The story is based on the founding of Scientology and has Hoffman playing “Lancaster Dodd, a charismatic intellectual known as The Master” who creates a new religion, but eventually comes into conflict with his chief disciple. Phoenix would play the disciple, Freddie Sutton, “an alcholic drifter who becomes his right-hand man only to begin questioning his manipulative mentor.”
Last fall, the film—unofficially referred to as “The Master“—looked dead, but then this past February, Megan Ellison came to rescue not only of this film, but also Anderson’s planned adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. Hit the jump for my thoughts on Phoenix joining The Master.
Daniel Sunjata, Diego Klattenhoff, and Burn Gorman Join THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
by Adam Chitwood Posted: April 12th, 2011
With production looming closer, director Christopher Nolan has added a trio of actors to The Dark Knight Rises. Daniel Sunjata (TV’s Rescue Me), Diego Klattenhoff (Lucky Number Slevin), and Burn Gorman (Layer Cake) are all looking to join a cast that now includes Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple and recent addition Josh Pence, who will take on the role of young Ra’s al Ghul.
Variety reports that Sunjata is in talks to play “a courageous special forces operative” and Klattenhoff is being offered the part of “a rookie cop who is looking to make a difference.” No word on who Gorman will play other than the fact that he’s being eyed for a supporting role in the film. Marion Cotillard was previously “in discussions” for a role in the film, but the report claims she’s now officially part of the cast. Hit the jump for more.
Sean Penn May Join Christian Bale in THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH
by Adam Chitwood Posted: April 12th, 2011
Sean Penn is now looking at joining Christian Bale in the drama The Last Photograph. The film, said to be in the vein of The Searchers and Taken, is based off an original idea by Zack Snyder about a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the sole survivor of an attack on Americans. Deadline reports that Bale is set to play the journalist, while Penn is circling the role of an ex-special ops soldier who enlists Bale’s help to find a missing family member who has been kidnapped. In exchange, Bale’s character gets the story.
Snyder’s 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad penned the script, and Niels Arden Oplev (the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is set to direct. The film was set up at Warner Bros. but apparently negotiations are ongoing to move the film to Dark Castle, where Joel Silver and Andrew Rona would come aboard as producers. The report states that Penn is very interested in joining the project, having just turned down roles in the Superman flick Man of Steel (the villain, perhaps?) and Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad. Plans are to shoot The Last Photograph in 2012 after Bale wraps The Dark Knight Rises.
...... http://collider.com/sean-penn-the-last-photograph/85637/
