First up in a bit of a casting round-up today is news that Aussie actress Isabel Lucas (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and maybe Terrence Malick’s “Knight of Cups” if she makes the final cut) has signed up for “Careful What You Wish For.” The film will follow a self-conscious high school student who gets more than he bargained for when he starts an affair with the wife of a businessman (the role we’re assuming Lucas has taken), and discovers a devastating secret after a serious crime rocks their small town. Directed by Elizabeth Allen (“Aquamarine,” “Ramona and Beezus”), the film is described as a “sexy thriller reminiscent of “Basic Instinct,”” but we’d be surprised if Lucas lays herself quite as bare as Sharon Stone did. [Broadway World]
Meanwhile, the ever-growing sub-genre of Neesploitation (Liam Neeson punching people, ideally foreign ones, in the head) looks to be getting another entry with "Fair Trade," which producers Emmet/Furla and Matt Riklin, of Bridge Films, are developing with the Irish actor in mind. A remake of the Serbian film "The Trap," to be directed by Ericson Core ("Invincible"), the film would see Neeson as a limo driver with a masters degree who agrees to kill a mobster in exchange for the money needed for a life-saving operation for his son. Was Nic Cage busy or something? Open Road Films are in talks to distribute, although it's unclear at this point if Neeson will be able to find time in his busy schedule for the project. [Deadline]
“Kick Ass 2” had been searching for someone to fill the role of Mother Russia. A casting call was sent out earlier in the year, specifying that Jeff Wadlow’s film was looking for an “extremely tall, large, fit female of 25 to 40” for the part. Wadlow tweeted a picture of Christopher Mintz-Plasse alongside the imposing figure of the Mother Russia they selected a few days ago, and it has been confirmed that said figure belongs to 6’2” Ukranian bodybuilder Olga Kurkulina. The film will be Kurkulina’s acting debut, and she will play the bodyguard to the renamed Red Mist, who now goes by the handle of Motherfucker. [Hitfix]
“24”'s Brad Turner is set to make his feature directing debut with the post-apocalyptic action flick “Scorched Earth,” and he’s decided that he wants to take Sean Bean to that post-apocalyptic world with him. He’ll play Atticus Gage (ha!), a bounty hunter who nabs the gig of hunting down the world’s most wanted criminal across the planet’s devastated badlands. Bean’s not exactly a huge box-office draw, but we also know he can be great and he should get genre fans into the project early on. It sounds like it’s got a bit of a “Dark Tower” vibe to us too, which is never a bad thing. [THR]
