The more we hear about Disney’s
sci-fi “Tomorrowland,” the more
we’re intrigued. Related in some way to the Disney theme park attraction, the
plot is still officially “unknown,” though we’ve heard some
fantastic things. The Brad Bird-directed
film has already lined up an array of actors, including George Clooney and Hugh
Laurie, or for doctor drama fans, Dr. Doug Ross (“E.R.”) and Dr. Gregory House (“House,
M.D.“). And now, Judy Greer has
joined the line-up, presumably as a bit of comic relief, but at this point, any
speculation as to her specific role is being pulled out of thin air. This will
mark Greer’s third film with Clooney; the others being “Three Kings” and “The
Descendants.” [Deadline]
A few months ago, we
reported that Paul Bettany was
gearing up for his directorial debut, “Shelter.” The wheels continue to turn on the project, as they’ve now cast Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker“) and Stephen
Graham (“This Is England,” Al
Capone on “Boardwalk Empire“).
Written by Bettany and co-starring his wife Jennifer Connelly, “Shelter” is “a homeless love story, set on the
streets of Manhattan.” [Showbiz411]
The slate of French-Canadian model-actress Charlotte Le Bon is piling up. Just off Michel Gondry’s “Mood Indigo” (which we
saw last month at Karlovy Vary), Charlotte Le Bon is not only in the middle
of two films (including The Weinstein
Company’s French biopic “Yves Saint
Laurent”), but is now joining the cast of a third, DreamWorks‘ “The
Hundred-Foot Journey,” whose co-producers include Steven Spielberg and Oprah
Winfrey. Based on the book by Richard
Morais, the film is about an Indian family who moves to France and opens an
Indian restaurant, to the chagrin of the Michelin-starred French restaurant a
stone’s throw away, sparking a rivalry and sounding vaguely similar to 2008’s “Bottle Shock.” Le Bon will play the
French romantic interest to Manish Dayal‘s
(“90210“) up-and-coming Indian chef,
along with Dame Helen Mirren as a
culinary rival. DreamWorks is targeting a release date of August 8, 2014. [The
Wrap/The
Wrap]
Marisa Tomei is
joining the cast of Ira Sachs’ “Love is Strange,” about a pair of
newlyweds and their complicated honeymoon. No, this is not some run-of-the-mill
romcom, but a drama about two older men (John
Lithgow, Alfred Molina) who have
been partners for 38 years and only recently were able to wed. Once married,
all is not bliss when they lose their New York apartment and are forced to stay
elsewhere, and separately, while finding a new place to live. Tomei will be
playing the wife of Lithgow’s character’s nephew, on whose couch he crashes for
a bit. Considering Sachs’ last film “Keep
The Lights On” (which we gave an “A” to at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival),
we can’t wait to see how “Love is Strange” turns out.
Meanwhile, “Hamlet” duo of director Michael Almereyda and actor Ethan Hawke, continue to cast up their reteam on Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy “Cymbeline.” The latest on board is Milla Jovovich, who will take the role of the scheming Queen in this updated story set among a dirty cops and a drug-dealing biker gang. She joins Hawke and Ed Harris, with more casting to come. Production starts this month. [Deadline]
Lastly, production has begun on Kevin Macdonald‘s “Black Sea” with Jude Law and Scoot McNairy, and as such the cast has been rounded out. Ben Mendelsohn, Michael Smiley (“Kill List“), Jodie Whittaker (“Attack The Block“), Grigoriy Dobrygin, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Sergey Kolesnikov and Sergey Puskepalis are on board the thriller about an unemployed submarine captain hired by some shady folks to lead an expedition to find a sunken sub supposedly loaded with gold. So he puts together a ragtag crew to take on the gig, but of course, things don’t go as planned.