So we can cover as many films as possible, we thought we’d give you these quick updates on some of today’s smaller film announcements…
Kevin Bacon has officially joined the cast of the Brit flick Whole LottaSole and will star alongside Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Sophie Okonedo and James Nesbitt in the film. Jay Russell (The Water Horse) will direct from a script by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda). The film is about a botched fish market robbery that leads to the involvement of the local police and a gangster out for revenge. (Source: Screen International)
Eminem has been lined up to star in the 3D movie, Shady Talez. While the rapper had a cameo in the recent Funny Stories, this will be his first major role since 8 Mile in 2002. Described as The Twilight meets Creepshow, there’s little news on what the film will be about, but it sounds like it will involve Eminem’s Slim Shady alter-ego. There are also plans to turn it into a comic series. (Source: Screen International)
Ashley Green, who plays Alice Cullen in the Twilight movies, is in talks to star in The Apparition. The story, said to be inspired by true events, is about a young couple haunted by a supernatural presence that they unleash during a college experiment. Todd Lincoln is making his feature writing and directing debut with the film. (Source: Variety)
The duo behind the Bobby Darin biopic, Beyond The Sea, have bought the screen rights to the Audie Murphy biography, No Name on the Bullet. Murphy was one of America’s most decorated combat veterans during World War II, and went to playing himself in the 1955 movie To Hell and Back, becoming a popular movie star in the process. He died in a plane crash in 1971. The filmmaker’s intend to explore how Murphy was haunted by his experiences in the war, even when he become immensely successful and famous. (Source: Variety)
Ken Loach is getting political again with the announcement that he plans to direct Irish Route, about two men working as private security contractors in Iraq. When Frankie is killed on ‘Route Irish’ – the road linking Baghdad airport with the Green Zone – Fergus, wracked with grief and guilt, rejects the official explanation and determines to investigate the truth of his friend’s death. The film will also involve a love triangle. (Source: THR)
Hideo Nakata, director of the original Japanese The Ring, and the American remake sequel, The Ring Two, has signed up to direct the English-language supernatural thriller, Voice From the Stone. Adapted from an Italian novel of the same name, it’s about a female child psychologist who takes on the case of a young boy who made a promise to his dying mother to remain silent until her spirit returns. (Source: THR)