Movie Muser

Channing Tatum may be gearing up to shoot Magic Mike XXL, but he’s also got an eye on future projects as THR reports that he’s attached himself to Struck By Genius at Sony, which he will produce and develop as a vehicle he hopes to star in.

The film is based on Jason Padgett’s memoir, which follows his story as ‘an extroverted partying college dropout [who] was jumped outside a karaoke bar, suffering a traumatic brain injury. During his recovery, he became a new person: a math whiz who saw geometric shapes around him. The book details his sudden savant syndrome, chronicling how he became a hermit, dealt with issues such as PTSD and chronic pain and eventually found some salvation via art.’

It’s certainly an intriguing story and would give Tatum an opportunity to show off his acting chops. Many expect him to get his first Oscar nomination for Foxcatcher early next year, and he may be eying another one for Struck By Genius.

Liam Neeson has made a bit of a name for himself as cinema’s hard man, and therefore the news that Universal is after him to star in their adaptation of Harlan Coben’s Tell No One, according to Deadline.

The book is about a paediatrician who is out one night frolicking by a lake with his wife when she suddenly vanishes and he is severely beaten when he tries to find her. When she turns up murdered, he is the prime suspect. That’s until she’s declared a victim of a caught serial killer. Years later, bodies turn up in the same spot and the nightmare is repeated, the paediatrician again under suspicion. Right around that time, he’s given evidence that his wife isn’t dead at all.

Back in 2011 Ben Affleck was set to direct (long before he became attached to the somewhat similarly themed Gone Girl), with Universal picking up the rights following a successful French version by Guillaume Canet in 2006. Last we heard Gavin O’Connor had taken over as director, although he’s not mentioned in the Deadline report.

Chris Terrio (Argo) has come up with the screenplay, but Neeson’s involvement in contingent on more work being done on the script to make him happy.

It’s not too long now until the Second World War story Fury hits cinema screens in the UK on October 22nd. Ahead of that a new poster has arrived giving us a fresh look at Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal, Michael Peña and their tank.

Here’s the film’s synopsis: ‘April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.’

David Ayer (End Of Watch) directs.

Second unit filming started a few days ago on Magic Mike XXL, but even with the cameras starting to roll, it wasn’t clear which members of the original cast would return beyond Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello and probably Matt Bomer and Alex Pettyfer too.

However ThePlaylist has been talking to director Gregory Jacobs, who says one person who won’t be back is Matthew McConaughey, although no reason is given as to why.

Jacobs also says that the new film with be very different to the first one, adding, “What am I allowed to say? … It’s road trip movie and put it this way, it’s different enough that once you see it you’ll understand why we made a sequel. No one will be accusing us of making the same movie twice.”

The film does have a new cast member though, as Variety reports that Andie McDowell has signed up. Unfortunately though, as with the vague plot details Jacobs offered above, there’s no news on who she will play.

We haven’t seen much of Matt Smith on the big screen since he left Doctor Who, but he’s got the likes of Lost River and Terminator: Genisys coming up, and now he’s added another as he’s joined the growing cast of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies.

According to THR, he’ll play Mr. Collins in the adaptation of Grahame-Smith’s novel, which keeps much of Jane Austen’s original Pride & Prejudice, but adds in a zombie apocalypse to give the classic love story an extra bit of zing. Collins is a nerdy preacher (or at least the 19th Century version of a nerd) who wants a wife and hopes to marry Elizabeth Bennett, although she’s not keen.

Also onboard are Lily James as Elizabeth, and Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy, with Douglas Booth, Emma Greenwell and Jack Huston also starring.

Burr Steers is set to direct the horror comedy which starts shooting next week.