Here’s the latest casting news coming out of Hollywood…
Yesterday we reported that in an interview Patrick Dempsey had said he was taking a role in Transformers 3. That’s now been confirmed, with further details suggesting he’ll play Megan Foxs boss in a role that is significant to the plot. Dempset himself said it was going to be a dark character, which suggests he may be a bit villainous. (Source: EW)
It’s been revealed that Emma Stone and Catherine Keener have joined the cast of The Croods, Dreamworks 3D CGI caveman comedy. They’ll join Nicolas Cage, who’s already been cast a Grug, the patriarch of a family pushed out of its home by an earthquake. Keener will voice Ugga, the mother of the Crood clan, while Stone will be Eep, their daughter. The familys new life becomes more challenging when they meet a nomad, Gy (Ryan Reynolds), who introduces them to the concept of ‘tomorrow’ and draws the romantic interest of Eep. The movie, directed by Chris Sanders (How To Train Your Dragon) and Kirk DeMicco (Space Chimps) is set for US release on March 30, 2012. (Source: THR)
Catherine Keener is going to be busy, as not only has she signed up for the Croods, but she’s also going to be appearing in the movie Peace, Love and Misunderstanding. She’ll join Jane Fonda in the film, which is about a conservative lawyer (Keener) who, after her husband leaves her, takes her son and daughter to the house of their estranged, hippie grandmother (Fonda) in Woodstock, where they each find love in unexpected places. The Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Double Jeopardy) directed movie starts shooting this July. (Source: THR)
It looks like Mila Kunis has Friends With Benefits, and one of them is Justin Timberlake. She’s going to be joining the rom com (to be directed by Will Gluck), as a female head-hunter who gets sick of commitment-phobic men and decides to try to take the relationship with one of her friends (a magazine editor played by Timberlake) to the next level – but only sexually. Inevitably though they begin to fall for one another. In case you’re wondering, this is a completely different movie to Ivan Reitman’s planned film, which used to be called Friends With Benefits but is currently untitled. That one has a similar premise but stars Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Greta Gerwig, Kevin Kline and Olivia Thirlby. Gluck’s film starts shooting in July. (Source: Variety)
Prison Break star Dominic Purcell has joined the cast of The Killer Elite, opposite Clive Owen and Jason Statham. The film follows a highly-trained group of British special forces members who are stalked by a team of assassins. Statham will be the leader of the team hunting the British operatives while Owen will play a British agent who tries to protect the special forces soldiers and their families. It’s isn’t clear exactly where Purcell fits into all this. Gary McKendry is directing and the film starts shooting next month. (Source: Variety)
Bones actress Emily Deschanel will topline the indie pic, The Family, opposite Kathleen Turner. Turner will play a devoutly Catholic woman who’s been nominated for one of the church’s top awards. She sets about trying to prove she has the perfect family, which involves refusing to accept her children for who they are. Deschanel will play her daughter, who unsurprisingly is her mother’s nightmare – a five-months pregnant, unmarried lesbian – who decides it’s time to tell mum the truth. Jason Ritter, Michael McGrady and Richard Chamberlain will also star in Anne Reton’s film. (Source: Variety)
For the last couple of days there have been rumours Lindsay Lohan had signed up to play 70s porn star Linda Lovelace in a new biopic called Inferno. It’s now been confirmed that she’ll replace Anna Faris, who was attached a couple of years ago but dropped out due to her rising status and the film’s financing struggles. It may be shot in the arm for Lohan’s career if she can pull it off, as Lovelace is an interesting figure, famed for making Deep Throat, but who later became a feminist who said her porn career had essentially been rape (although she later backtracked slightly), before becoming a suburban wife and mother. This is one of two Lovelace biopics currently racing to get to the screens, although it’s likely only one will be made. (Source: LA Times)