JoBlo has learned that Oscar-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen) will play Nicolas Cage’s mother, Emily Gates, in Walt Disney Pictures’ National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The site says that Emily will help link Cage’s Ben Gates to his family’s connection to John Wilkes Booth and the mysterious Knights of the Gold Circle. And the bad guy this time around? Four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris. He’ll play Jeb Wilkinson, who has some information about Gates’ father and aligns himself as an ally. Returning for the Jon Turteltaub-directed sequel are Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha and Harvey Keitel.
Ray Winstone (The Departed) has signed on for a major role in Paramount Pictures’ Indiana Jones 4, says The Hollywood Reporter. Although the film’s plot is being closely guarded, the trade says Winstone will play star Harrison Ford’s sidekick. Cate Blanchett already has boarded the project, to be produced by Lucasfilm and directed by Steven Spielberg. David Koepp wrote the screenplay for the sequel, which is scheduled to begin filming in June in Los Angeles and at top-secret locations around the world. Paramount Pictures will release the film day-and-date worldwide May 22, 2008, with a handful of territories opening the following day. Frank Marshall is producing, with George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy executive producing.
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) wil star oppposite Keanu Reeves in The Night Watchman, the James Ellroy-scripted drama that David Ayer will direct, reports Variety. The film, co-financed by Fox Searchlight and New Regency, begins production May 21. Alexandra Milchan, Lucas Foster and Erwin Stoff are producing. Reeves was set last month to play a member of an elite group of LAPD cops who questions the ruthless tactics he has used to become such an effective force in solving murders and battling gang violence and drugs. Whitaker will play a captain of the elite unit called Ad/Vice.
Olga Kurylenko (Paris je t’aime), Robert Knepper (”Prison Break”), Ulrich Thomsen (Festen) and Michael Offei (Casino Royale) have joined Timothy Olyphant and Dougray Scott in the Luc Besson-produced video game adaptation Hitman at 20th Century Fox. Director Xavier Gens begins filming the thriller this week in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. The movie also will be shot in South Africa, Istanbul, St. Petersburg and London. Besson is producing through his Europa Corp., along with Chuck Gordon and Adrian Askarieh. Daniel Alter is co-producer. Olyphant will play Agent 47, a hitman who ends up being chased himself by Interpol and the Russian military. Scott plays the antagonist.
MTV talked to Sin City 2 co-director Robert Rodriguez and star Rosario Dawson about the anticipated film, which will tell one story this time that may include Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas. Here are several clips from the article:
“[Depp] was interested in doing the Jackie Boy character that Benicio [Del Toro] played [in the first one], but he was doing that movie ‘Libertine’ in Europe and it just kept getting pushed and delayed and went right through our shooting schedule,” Rodriquez said of the actor he directed in “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” “But there is a better role for him in [’Hell and Back’]. I kept going, ‘Gosh, Jackie Boy is a small part, he could be really good [as Wallace].’ When he wasn’t available, I thought maybe it was meant to be.”
Continue reading Depp And Banderas In Sin City Sequels
Darren Aronofsky is in talks to direct Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg in boxing drama The Fighter for Paramount Pictures, reports Variety. The project is based on the rise of Boston boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, who nabbed the world lightweight title with the help of his once down-and-out half-brother Dicky, who became a trainer. Wahlberg and Damon are ready to commit to making “Fighter” their next movie if they like a rewrite that scribe Paul Attanasio is doing. Filming could begin in early summer in Massachusetts. Attanasio, who will focus on the themes of brotherhood and redemption, is rewriting a draft by Lewis Collick, Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy.
Dread Central reports that Paul W.S. Anderson is no longer writing or directing Rogue Pictures’ Castlevania, the $50 million video game adaptation produced and co-financed by Crystal Sky Entertainment. Anderson instead will be concentrating his efforts on developing the Death Race 3000, the remake of Death Race 2000, says the site. Anderson’s Castlevania script spanned many time periods but mostly took place in 15th century Transylvania. It was a fresh take on the much-filmed Dracula legend, mining back to its genesis in the story of the Romanian prince Vlad the Impaler.
Variety reports that Martin Scorsese is looking to direct Leonardo DiCaprio in the film adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s upcoming tell-all autobiography The Wolf of Wall Street for Warner Brothers Pictures, with The Sopranos scribe Terence Winter aboard to write. Alexandra Milchan will produce with DiCaprio’s company Appian Way, which has a first-look deal with Warners. Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions is attached to produce. It’s unknown, however, where “Wolf” stands on the list of potential directing projects that have been announced for Scorsese since the Academy Awards. Milchan, daughter of producer Arnon Milchan, and literary agent Joel Gotler decided to go with Warners because of the Scorsese-DiCaprio combo offered by Appian Way and the studio, although no official deals are in place for Scorsese to direct or DiCaprio to star.
In The Wolf of Wall Street DiCaprio would play Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 20 months in prison for refusing to cooperate in a massive 1990s securities fraud case that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including mob infiltration. Bantam Books publishes the autobiography in September.
ComingSoon.net reported that Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings) will voice the villainous Megatron in Michael Bay’s upcoming Transformers movie. The site based its report on the viral promotional Web site SectorSeven.org, which it accessed using the password “NBETWO.” Sector Seven is a top-secret organization that is part of the Transformers storyline. The news is hidden: Clicking on the scorpion at the bottom reveals a list of e-mails. The first one, “Counter-Information Campaign,” contains the casting news. Transformers, based on the 1980s toy, comic-book and TV franchise, opens July 4.
We reported that Daniel Radcliffe had signed for the final two Harry Potter films, but Rupert Grint and Emma Watson had yet to sign deals. Well Warner Brothers has signed Rupert Grint and Emma Watson will reprise the roles they have made their own: teen wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final two motion picture adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling book series. The announcement was made today by Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Brothers Pictures.
In making the announcement, Robinov said, “When Daniel, Rupert and Emma were first cast as Harry, Ron and Hermione, we knew they were not only talented, but had a very special chemistry. Through the years, and in each of the ‘Harry Potter’ films, we have watched them grow into extraordinary young adults, as well as remarkable actors. It would be inconceivable to imagine anyone else in the roles with which they have become so identified, so we are thrilled and proud that Daniel, Rupert and Emma have chosen to complete the arc of their characters in the final two films.”
Continue reading Grint And Watson Officially Join Final Harry Potter Movies