Movie Muser

Earlier this year Zach Galifianakis signed up to star in the gay rights drama Freeheld. However a slight slip in the start of shooting has forced him to leave. They’ve found a strong replacement though, as Steve Carell has stepped into the breach, according to Deadline.

Julianne Moore and Ellen Page are still onboard though. Freeheld is based on a 2007 Best Documentary Short winner of the same name, about a landmark LGBT equality case.

Page is set to play mechanic Stacie Andree, who was denied the pension benefits of her longtime partner and New Jersey police detective Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore), when the latter became terminally ill. While Hester’s detective partner, Dane Wells, was conservative and initially surprised to learn of Hester’s sexual orientation, he stepped up to become the leader in the fight for Laurel’s rights to assign her benefits to Andree.

Galifianakis is set to be Steven Goldstein, a Garden State Equality activist who played an important role in the case.

Philadephia screenwriter Ron Nyswaner has come up with the script, while Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) will direct.

A new pic from the set of Avengers: Age Of Ulton has emerged, which suggests Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye isn’t quite the bowmaster he appears on screen, as he’s getting a few tips from director Joss Whedon. The image arrived via Empire (along with a couple we’ve seen before).

The new Avengers movie revolves around tech called Ultron that Tony Stark has built to protect the world when the superheroes aren’t around (perhaps taking the place of the now semi-defunct S.H.I.E.L.D.). However creating artificially intelligent robots have rarely been a good idea in the movies, and so soon Ultron has turned on his creator and sends Stark’s army of drones to get rid of the planet’s number one problem – human beings.

The film is due out May 2015.

Hollywood obviously thinks Fifty Shades Of Grey has the potential to turn Jamie Dornan into a big star, as the Irish actor is already booking new roles, with Miramax announcing  Dornan will star in the Alexandre Aja (Horns, The Hills Have Eyes) directed movie, The 9th Life of Louis Drax.

Max Minghella, who’s best known as an actor (The Internship, The Social Network), makes his screenwriting debut. It’s not too surprising he’s good with words as he is the son of Oscar-winning writer/director Anthony Minghella. Indeed when the film rights were purchased back in 2004, it was the plan for the English Patient and Talented Mr. Ripley helmer to adapt it himself. Sadly Anthony died in 2008 and Max has now taken over.

The movie is based on Liz Jensen’s best-selling novel of the same title which, ‘begins on Louis Drax’s 9th birthday, when he suffers a near-fatal fall. In order to reveal the strange circumstances surrounding the young boy’s accident – Dr. Allan Pascal (Jamie Dornan) is drawn into a thrilling mystery, testing the boundaries of fantasy and reality.’

Aja comments, “Max’s script takes us on a very emotional journey through the deep recesses of the mind and on a suspenseful Hitchcockian ride. I was drawn to the poignant family drama and the supernatural elements, and am excited to bring this rich and complex story to life.”

Filming will commence this October in Vancouver, Canada.

Last year Tom Hanks and Ron Howards loosely agreed to reteam for their third adaptation of one of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon novel. While a film version of The Lost Symbol had defeated them (it’s believed the logistics of shooting in and around some of Washington DC’s most famous landmarks proved too difficult), they thought Inferno might be able to make it to the screen.

Now it seems it’s coming to fruition, as Deadline reports that the film is due to start production next April.

In Inferno, symbologist Robert Langdon once more get thrust into the heart of a mystery, this time revolving around medieval poet Dante Alghieri. However to make things a little more complicated Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia. He has no idea what’s going on but it soon becomes clear it has something to do with a global plague, as well as artefacts to do with Dante.

A December 18th, 2015 release has already been set.

James Ellroy has long loved the world of film noir and hardboiled literature with his novels such as LA Confidential and The Black Dahlia. Now he’s heading directly into the noir world of the 40s as he has signed up to script a remake of the 1944 classic, Laura, according to THR.

Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price starred in Otto Preminger’s 1944 original, which is about a detective investigating a murder. As he finds out more about the dead women he ends up falling in love with her. However things with Laura aren’t quite what his investigation initially seems to suggest. 

The movie was nominated for five Oscars, winning for Best Cinematography. At the moment no director is attached to the remake, and there’s no info on when the film might shoot.