Thanks for checking out Casting Calls, a weekly roundup of all the notable roles that actors and actresses have scored for upcoming films. As always, we will try to avoid rumors, and stick to roles that have been locked down or are in the negotiation stage.
In this weeks addition, Jim Carrey confirmed for “Kick-Ass 2”, Michael Fassbender doubles up on films, Bruce Willis will bread an “American Assassin”, Al Pacino will tackle Joe Pa, Nic Cage isn’t just your average “Joe”, and much, much more.
So hit the jump to see who got what gig!
For those of you who are regular readers of Casting Calls, you’ve probably noticed that it's been a couple weeks since we rolled this post out. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for me, but I’m back in the swing of things now, so without further delay lets get get down to business.
The first bit of news I want to talk about this week is that Jim Carrey has officially signed on for “Kick-Ass 2”. The veteran actor will be playing the role of Colonel Stars. The studio hadn’t confirmed the news, but the director of the film, Jeff Wadlow hinted on September 1st via Twitter that the role was secured.
After Wadlow made his hint on Twitter, Mark Millar posted a follow-up message on his forums:
Carrey joins the cast of returning stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and new members John Leguizamo, Donald Faison, Robert Emms, Yancy Butler and Morris Chestnut. The film will be released on June 28,2013.
Our next actor in the news this week is Michael Fassbender, who has signed on for two new films: “Jane Got a Gun” and “Frank”. I’d have to check to be sure, but I’m pretty sure these make at least four or five new films for him since I started this weekly post, and I would also guess that’s the most of any actor or actress during that time period. Not that I blame anyone for wanting the guy in their movie, he is one of the best young actors in the business today.
Fassbender will star opposite Natalie Portman in “Jane Got a Gun”, which tells the story of a girl who seeks the help of her ex-boyfriend to save her husband from a gang who is trying to kill him.
The film is set to start shooting early next year and is being directed by Lynne Ramsey.
The second movie “Frank”, which is being directed by Lenny Abrahamson will also star Domhnall Gleeson (the Harry Potter series).
The film centers around Gleeson’s character, an up-and-coming musician who gets thrown headfirst into the typical wild rock and roll lifestyle when he joins a band that is lead by Fassbender’s character.
Our next bit of news this week has me really excited, as it involves a novel that I’ve read and have been wondering for quite sometime when they would start adapting them to films. So you’ll see a bit of reporting and then I’ll take a little time to do some speculation. The news I am talking about this week is that Bruce Willis is in talks to play one of the lead roles in the upcoming film “American Assassin”.
The film is based on the book of the same title which is the origin story for a series of spy novels written by Vince Flynn. Here is the official description of the novel:
Since no news on that role has come about yet, I’m gonna go ahead and throw a prediction out there for who I think would fit the role the best. For me personally, I think the best person for the role is Edgar Ramirez. If people agree or disagree, I would love to hear peoples thoughts.
The screenplay was written by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. CBS Films is producing this film and are already working on adapting a second novel Consent to Kill.
Our next bit of news also has to do with a novel adaption, and also has to do with another legendary actor. Al Pacino has taken the role of Joe Paterno in the upcoming adaption of the novel that chronicled the legendary coaches life. The novel Paterno, written by Joe Posnanski, is described as the following:
Next up is another personal favorite of mine, and he should be yours as well, Nicolas Cage. Cage has signed on for the lead role in David Gordon Green’s upcoming film “Joe”. The film, another novel adaption, this time one of Larry Brown’s 1991 novel, is described as:
The screenplay for the film is being adapted by Gary Hawkins.
That wraps up all the big news of the week, now we’ll quickly go through some of the smaller roles that have been announced this week.
-Rosario Dawson has confirmed she will be reprising her role of Gail for “Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For”. The film is set to hit theaters October 4, 2013. Source: E! Online
-David Thewlis has signed on for a role in “Red 2”. Thewlis will be playing a information dealer nicknamed The Frog. He joins the cast of Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary Louise-Parker, and Karl Urban. Source: The Hollywood Reporter
-Renee Zellweger will star in and direct the upcoming film “4 1/2 Minutes”. This will be the first film Zellweger has directed, and the film will be a comedy based on the stand-up of Dov Davidoff. Johnny Knoxville will play Davidoff’s on stage alter ego Jimmy Bennett in the film. Source: Variety
-Tom Wilkinson has signed on to play the role of Detective Carl Summer in the upcoming thriller, “Felony”. The film is about a young officer who lies about hitting a child while driving home, and the lie changes his life forever. The film is being directed by Matthew Saville. Source: Comingsoon
-Paddy Considine has joined the cast of “The Worlds End”. Considine will play a divorced architect in the film. Source: Variety
-For those of you who were worried that we might make it through an edition of Casting Calls without someone landing a role in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, you need not worry. Joining the cast this week is Jeffrey Wright. Wright will play the role of Beetee in the film. Source: Comingsoon
Well that wraps up this weeks edition of Casting Calls. Be sure to check back next Monday for another edition!
In this weeks addition, Jim Carrey confirmed for “Kick-Ass 2”, Michael Fassbender doubles up on films, Bruce Willis will bread an “American Assassin”, Al Pacino will tackle Joe Pa, Nic Cage isn’t just your average “Joe”, and much, much more.
So hit the jump to see who got what gig!
For those of you who are regular readers of Casting Calls, you’ve probably noticed that it's been a couple weeks since we rolled this post out. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for me, but I’m back in the swing of things now, so without further delay lets get get down to business.
“6 days till we start shooting... and we officially have our Colonel. Alrighty f'n then!”The first thing I want to point out about that, and I know I’m just splitting hairs here, but the proper way to say that would’ve been “all f’n righty then”. It’s not really a big deal, but I will admit it bothered me the way he typed that. Anyway, this is by far the best casting news we have from this movie. I was really worried how they were gonna get someone to fill the void that Nic Cage left from the first film, but I think Carrey is has just the right amount of crazy to pull it off.
After Wadlow made his hint on Twitter, Mark Millar posted a follow-up message on his forums:
Matthew Vaughn, Jeff Wadlow and I did a conference call with Jim a couple of weeks back and we've been itching to talk about this ever since because the energy Jim's going to bring to Colonel Stars has me buzzing as much as Nic Cage with Big Daddy. You have to remember that Big Daddy's role before Cage came on was a much more straightforward bad-ass. It was Nic who gave him that Adam West delivery and brought this incredible warmth to the character, especially with regard to Mindy.You can read the whole message here. It also will give you a quick layout of how the plot will unfold.
Nic is really good friends with Jim Carrey and it's well known to everyone that Jim loved the first movie. In fact, I think he had lunch with Vaughn the day before that Conan O'Brien kick-Ass/ Superman duet you can see in the link. So we've been talking very informally about this for a little over two years now. We didn't quite know what Jim was going to be doing in the sequel, but the entire team loves him to bits and I've been a fan since I first saw him. I remember reading an interview with Spielberg, a great one back in Empire for a Jaws anniversary, where he was saying that Jim would be his choice for Chief Brodie were he shooting Jaws now. He said he could see the brilliant dramatic range Jim had as well as the comedy people knew him for at that time. For all these reasons, combined with the conversation we had with him on the phone, I'm so genuinely excited about this. I can't wait to see what he does once the cameras are on.
Carrey joins the cast of returning stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and new members John Leguizamo, Donald Faison, Robert Emms, Yancy Butler and Morris Chestnut. The film will be released on June 28,2013.
Fassbender will star opposite Natalie Portman in “Jane Got a Gun”, which tells the story of a girl who seeks the help of her ex-boyfriend to save her husband from a gang who is trying to kill him.
The film is set to start shooting early next year and is being directed by Lynne Ramsey.
The film centers around Gleeson’s character, an up-and-coming musician who gets thrown headfirst into the typical wild rock and roll lifestyle when he joins a band that is lead by Fassbender’s character.
Our next bit of news this week has me really excited, as it involves a novel that I’ve read and have been wondering for quite sometime when they would start adapting them to films. So you’ll see a bit of reporting and then I’ll take a little time to do some speculation. The news I am talking about this week is that Bruce Willis is in talks to play one of the lead roles in the upcoming film “American Assassin”.
'American Assassin' tells the story of legendary CIA agent Mitch Rapp. Long before he began hunting terrorists, Rapp was a gifted college scholar/athlete. Then, tragedy struck and Rapp was recruited into the nation’s most elite covert operations program. After completing training designed to teach the kind of lethal skills necessary to target our most dangerous enemies, here and abroad, he is a man reborn with a mission of retribution.Now the first thing I should mention here is that, for all the people who have been thinking that Bruce Willis could never play Mitch Rapp, you’re absolutely right. Which is obviously why the role Willis would be playing would not be Mitch Rapp; he would have to be playing the role of Stan Hurley who is Rapp’s trainer and mentor. I think it’s a good fit for Willis, but what I always wondered was who would play Rapp.
Since no news on that role has come about yet, I’m gonna go ahead and throw a prediction out there for who I think would fit the role the best. For me personally, I think the best person for the role is Edgar Ramirez. If people agree or disagree, I would love to hear peoples thoughts.
The screenplay was written by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. CBS Films is producing this film and are already working on adapting a second novel Consent to Kill.
Joe Posnanski’s biography of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno follows in the tradition of works by Richard Ben Cramer on Joe DiMaggio and David Maraniss on Vince Lombardi. Having gained unprecedented access to Paterno, as well as the coach’s personal notes and files, Posnanski spent the last two years of Paterno’s life covering the coach, on (and off) the field and through the scandal that ended Paterno’s legendary career.All I can say about the film at this point is that it will be interesting to see how the public reacts to this film.
Joe Posnanski, who in 2012 was named the Best Sportswriter in America by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame, was with Paterno and his family as a horrific national scandal unfolded and Paterno was fired. Within three months, Paterno died of lung cancer, a tragic end to a life that was epic, influential, and operatic.
'Paterno' is the fullest description we will ever have of the man’s character and career. In this honest and surprising portrait, Joe Posnanski brings new insight and understanding to one of the most controversial figures in America.
Nearing fifty, Joe Ransom won't slow down, not in his pickup, not with a gun-and certainly not with women. But all the fast living in Mississippi won't fill the hunger Joe can't name. At fifteen, Gary Jones is already slipping through the cracks. Part of a hopeless, homeless wandering family, he's desperate for a way out. He finds it in Joe. Together they follow a twisting map to redemption - or ruin.These are the type of roles I love to see Cage take. These roles that have some real meat on them but still let him show off that wacky personality of his. Plus, when Cage plays a southerner, aka “Con Air” or “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans’’, magic usually ensues.
The screenplay for the film is being adapted by Gary Hawkins.
That wraps up all the big news of the week, now we’ll quickly go through some of the smaller roles that have been announced this week.
-Rosario Dawson has confirmed she will be reprising her role of Gail for “Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For”. The film is set to hit theaters October 4, 2013. Source: E! Online
-David Thewlis has signed on for a role in “Red 2”. Thewlis will be playing a information dealer nicknamed The Frog. He joins the cast of Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary Louise-Parker, and Karl Urban. Source: The Hollywood Reporter
-Renee Zellweger will star in and direct the upcoming film “4 1/2 Minutes”. This will be the first film Zellweger has directed, and the film will be a comedy based on the stand-up of Dov Davidoff. Johnny Knoxville will play Davidoff’s on stage alter ego Jimmy Bennett in the film. Source: Variety
-Tom Wilkinson has signed on to play the role of Detective Carl Summer in the upcoming thriller, “Felony”. The film is about a young officer who lies about hitting a child while driving home, and the lie changes his life forever. The film is being directed by Matthew Saville. Source: Comingsoon
-Paddy Considine has joined the cast of “The Worlds End”. Considine will play a divorced architect in the film. Source: Variety
-For those of you who were worried that we might make it through an edition of Casting Calls without someone landing a role in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, you need not worry. Joining the cast this week is Jeffrey Wright. Wright will play the role of Beetee in the film. Source: Comingsoon
Well that wraps up this weeks edition of Casting Calls. Be sure to check back next Monday for another edition!