Here’s the latest casting news coming out of Tinsel Town…
Following his stint as an Oscars co-host, Steve Martin is in negotiations to go bird-watching with Owen Wilson and Jack Black in The Big Year. The long in development project previously had Dustin Hoffman attached, but now Martin is stepping into his shoes, as one of three men who try to outdo each other in a bird-watching competition to spot the rarest birds in North America. The rivalry is an allegory for the challenges each faces in his own life. Based on the 1998 book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, the screenplay was written by Howard Franklin, and it will be directed by David Frankel (Marley & Me). The Big Year starts shooting in May. (Source: THR)
The makers of Criminal Empire For Dummies are lining up a rather ace cast, with Gary Oldman, Malin Akerman and Milo Ventimiglia all signed up to star, and Michael Clarke Duncan and Harvey Keitel also attached. Actor/writer Cliff Dorfman will make his feature directorial debut with the movie, which is about a charismatic young man (Ventimiglia), who relates the do’s and dont’s of running a crimimal empire through a flachback that sees his rise from the streets to the top of the international drugs trade. It sounds potentially cool, but as always with this sort of film, everything is in the execution. Filming begins in New Orleans in March. (Source: Variety)
Ace character actors Richard Jenkins (The Visitor, Burn After Reading) and Bruce Thomas (Kyle XY) have joined the cast of the Farelly Brothers’ Hall Pass, which is currently shooting in Atlanta. Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate and Alyssa Milano will also star in the film, about two couples where the wives give the husbands a ‘hall pass’ to engage in debaucherous behaviour and have illicit encounters, but of course things don’t go smoothly with this plan. Incidentally, while Amanda Bynes was recently announced as having a small part in the movie, she’s since dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. (Source: Variety)
Jason Segel and Ed Helms have signed on to star in the Duplass Brothers’ (Greenberg) stoner comedy, Jeff Who Lives At home. The pic chronicles a day in the life of two brothers, one a loser (Segel) who lives at home and the other (Helms) more together but overbearing. Judy Greer will play Helms’ wife, but no one has yet been cast in the other main role, that of the men’s mother. Mark and Jay Duplass are writing and directing, with Jason Reitman producing. Shooting begind next month in Louisiana. (Source: THR)