In today’s casting round-up, we have some news regarding a boxing biopic, an adaptation of an award-winning play, another cop film from the king of cop films, and the true story of a Navy SEAL mission gone wrong.
Since the premiere of BBC’s “Sherlock,” Benedict Cumberbatch has seen his stock rise with a pair of villainous roles in the upcoming “The Hobbit” films and J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” sequel. Outside of the tentpole realm, Cumberbatch has recently wrapped Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years a Slave” and is now in talks to join the big screen adaptation of Tracy Letts’ (“Killer Joe," “Bug”) Pulitzer and Tony-winning play “August: Osage County.” The John Wells-helmed film revolves around Meryl Streep’s drug addicted family matriarch and her daughter, played by Julia Roberts. Cumberbatch plays Streep’s sensitive nephew who is unknowingly the product of an affair. Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, Juliette Lewis and Andrea Riseborough also star. [THR]
Despite our problems with “The Killing,” the bright spots were the two leads, future “RoboCop” Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos. While Kinnaman is set to jump head first into franchise territory, Enos has been quietly booking some roles in a wide variety of films, including in a pair of delayed and troubled productions, “Gangster Squad” and “World War Z.” Now, she has nabbed the female lead in David Ayer’s next cop film, “Breacher,” opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Worthington. Enos plays Worthington’s wife and fellow member of the elite DEA task force who rob a drug cartel safe house. Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Dawn Olivieri, Malin Akerman and Olivia Williams co-star. [Deadline]
“Red Riding Hood” star Shiloh Fernandez will portray the late five-time world champion Chicano boxer Johnny Tapia in a biopic. Tapia’s success was often overshadowed by his crippling drug addiction and dark past — his mother was raped and murdered when he was a young child and this past May, the boxer was found dead at the age of 45. The film, aimed for a 2013 release, is being directed by newcomer Eddie Alcazar from a script co-written with “Glory Road” screenwriter Bettina Gilios. [The Wrap]
“The Hunger Games” villain Alexander Ludwig has joined the Navy SEAL team led by Mark Wahlberg in Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor.” The film, based on Marcus Luttrell’s non-fiction book, follows a Navy SEAL team ambushed by Taliban forces after a mission goes wrong in Afghanistan. It’s no secret that Berg has a lot of respect for the military, coming from a military family himself, but we can only hope that he’s back in “Friday Night Lights” mode and has put “Battleship” behind him. Eric Bana, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster and Emile Hirsch also star. [Deadline]