There's been a lot of casting news coming out of Hollywood, so here's the round-up...
The Oscar nominated star of The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner, is rumoured to be up for three new film roles. According to the New York Times, he's in talks with Universal and director Peter Berg about appearing in the upcoming Battleship, which turns the classic game into a boat vs. alien story. He's also planning to star in Raven, James McTeigue's fictionalised account of the last five day of Edgar Allan Poe's life, where he joins the hunt for a serial killer whose murders are inspired by the Gothic writer's stories. The director has described it as “like the poem, The Raven, itself, crossed with Se7en.” Ewan McGregor is in talks to co-star in the film. Although it isn't officially known what the third movie Renner's up for is, he's apparently taken five meeting to discuss it, and Movieline is suggesting it's Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology themed The Master, with Renner starring opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman. (Source: NY Times)
Jeffrey Wright has joined the cast of Duncan Jones' follow-up to Moon, Source Code. The news comes direct from the director's Twitter account, where he says, "Just met with the lovely Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright. Feeling quite thrilled to have two such scorchingly good actors in Source Code!" We've known about Farmiga's involvement for a while, but the news about Wright is new. The film itself is about a soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal) who, as part of an experimental government program to investigate a terrorist incident, finds himself in the body of an unknown commuter living and reliving a harrowing train bombing until he can find out who is responsible for it. Michelle Monaghan will also star. (Source: Twitter)
Carla Gugino, an actress who always seems like she should be more famous than she is, has joined the cast of the Dwayne Johnson thriller, Faster. It appears she's replacing Salma Hayek, who dropped out of the film at the last minute. Faster, directed by George Tillmans Jr, follows an ex-con who's out to avenge his brother's death, while Gugino will play the cop who's on his trail. Shooting on the film started earlier this month. (Source: Variety)
Christoph Waltz is the new Sean Penn, or at least he is in the circus themed pic, Water For Elephants. It's being reported that the Oscar nominated Inglourious Basterds star will step in for Penn in the Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) directed pic, about a Depression-era Cornell University veterinary student, Jacob (Robert Pattinson), who gives up his studies after his parents are killed and goes off to become a vet for a second rate circus. Reese Witherspoon is set to play equestrian star Marlena, who Jacob falls for, while Waltz will be her husband August, a charismatic but twisted animal trainer. The film was set to be Penn's return to the screen following his self-imposed hiatus, but apparently the deal for the movie went south and so Waltz got the role. (Source: Deadline Hollywood)
Kevin Bacon and Djimon Hounsou are set to star in the English-language debut of Thai director Prachya Pinkaew. In the film, Elephant White (which has nothing to do with the previously mentioned Water For Elephants), Hounsou will play a mercenary, while Bacon portrays an old acquaintance of Hounsou's character whose allegiance can't be trusted. Pinkaew is best known for movies like Ong Bak and Chocolate, and will start shooting Elephant White in Thailand in March. (Source: THR)
It appears Ben Stiller is in talks for the action-comedy Trump Heist, about workmen who plan to rob the residents of New York’s Trump Tower, where they happen to be employed. However if Stiller is hired, it would mark a major change from the project's earlier development. It was first touted as a black Ocean's 11, with the likes of Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker touted for roles, although with Stiller now in talks to star, it looks like it's going from black to white. The script will now be rewritten to more suit Stiller. The change in race may be due to recent movement on a remake of Uptown Saturday Night, which Will Smith and Denzel Washington are circling, which is also said to be a bit like a black Ocean's 11. (Source: LA Times)
Vincent Cassel has signed up to star in The Monk, an 18th Century-set suspense pic, based on Matthew Lewis' Gothic novel. The film will follow the rise and tragic fall of Capucin Ambrosio, a respected Spanish monk. Deborah Francois, Geraldine Chaplin and Sergi Lopez will also star in the film, which will be directed by Dominik Moll (Lemming). Source: Variety)