Here’s the latest casting news coming out of Hollywood…
A couple of weeks ago when Cillian Murphy was reported to have signed on to star in Retreat, the lack of any mention of the previously announced David Tennant made many wonder whether he’d dropped out. Well it appears that he has, as Jamie Bell has now joined the cast, and as there are supposedly only three major roles, that strongly suggests Bell will take the part Tennant was supposed to have had. Directed by newcomer Carl Tibbetts, the film will follow a couple (Thandie Newton and Cillian Murphy) who are seeking to rebuild their relationship by taking time out on a remote island. However their peace is shattered when they find a man in military uniform (presumably Bell, previously Tennant) half-dead on their doorstep, who tells them there is a lethal virus killing millions on the mainland. However there may be more to what’s going on that what they’re told. Production begins in Wales next month. (Source: Deadline)
Watchmen star Jeffrey Dean Morgan has signed on for the lead role in the upcoming action thriller, The Courier, written by 3:10 To Yuma’s Derek Haas and Michael Brandt. Morgan will play a courier who has taken on improbable missions and never missed a drop. Hes hired to deliver a briefcase to a notorious underworld figure that cant be found. The courier finds himself pursued by corrupt cops, double-crossing feds and rival crime bosses. It’s one of several courier based thrillers that have been in the work, but this one seems to be moving fastest, with production set to begin next month in New Orleans. (Source: Deadline)
We reported last week that Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman were reuniting for the film Young Adult, which already has Charlize Theron set to star. Well now it may be adding Josh Brolin to the mix. The film is about a ghostwriter of young adult novels (Theron) who plots to reclaim her identity. Her campaign involves going back and rekindling a relationship with her high school boyfriend – who’s freshly married, is a new father, and wants no part of her. It’s this latter role that Brolin is said to be circling, although he’s yet to sign on. While Reitman wants to start shooting in November, he’d better get things organised quickly, because as yet the financing isn’t in place. (Source: Showbiz411)
It has been announced that Josh Hartnett has joined director Paul McGuigan’s sci-fi thriller Tomorrow, written by Michael Gould. In the vein of Memento, Tomorrow stars Josh Hartnett as a man who travels back and forth through time and space, trying to prevent the murder of his family. Tomorrow is scheduled to commence principal photography later this year in Louisiana. (Source: Movieweb)
For a few months now Zoe Saldana has been attached to the Luc Besson produced drama, Columbiana, which Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3) will direct. Now she has some company in the form of Alias star Michael Vartain. Saldana will play a young woman who, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents’ death. Vartan will play Saldana’s boyfriend, an artist with no idea what she does for a living who is her only link to normalcy. (Source: THR)