Guy Pearce isn’t a movie star, and he’s totally fine with that. The Australian actor has been a familiar face on screen for getting on twenty years, and has occasionally brushed against potential A-list-dom, but after getting burnt with things like “The Time Machine,” has pretty much settled into doing whatever the hell he wants, whether it’s solid character actor roles like this week’s “The Rover,” or fun B-movie fare like “Lockout.”
Pearce’s latest gig looks to fall between the two, as The Wrap reports the actor is reteaming with director Drake Doremus, with whom he worked on last year’s underrated “Breathe In,” on the filmmakers’ new project, “Equals.” A young-adult dystopia-type project, penned by “Moon” writer Nathan Parker, the film is set in a world where emotions have been eradicated, and already has Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart on board. There’s no word of who Pearce will be playing yet. We were already excited to see how Doremus adapts his raw, deeply felt style to a more heavily scripted sci-fi project, and we’re even more so now that Pearce is on board. Filming starts in August in Japan and Singapore.
Elsewhere, John Hillcoat‘s “Triple Nine” is getting underway shortly, and the film has added an actor who, frankly, we’d already assumed was involved, in the shape of “Capote” and “Pacific Rim” ‘s Clifton Collins Jr. He’s the latest in a terrific cast to join Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie, Casey Affleck, Michael Peña, Teresa Palmer, Norman Reedus, Aaron Paul and Gal Gadot, in the story of a group of corrupt cops who plan to kill one of their own in order to pull off a heist. Shooting starts next month. [Deadline]
Also with an expansive cast is “Selma,” a long-gestating civil rights drama about the famous marches of the title, once intended for Lee Daniels to direct. We got a serious upgrade in the end, as “Middle Of Nowhere” helmer Ava DuVernay is now calling the shots on a project that started shooting a few weeks ago, but is still adding cast: Oprah Winfrey, already on as a producer, will play Annie Lee Cooper, a woman who was denied the right to vote by Sheriff Clark (Stan Houston) and became a leader as a result, while Alessandro Nivola will play another activist, John Doar. They join David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Andre Holland, Omar J. Dorsey, Tessa Thompson, Colman Domingo, Tim Roth, Cuba Gooding Jr., Common, Wendell Pierce, Stephan James, Nigel Thatch, Keith Stanfield and Lorraine Toussaint in the project. [The Wrap/THR]
Finally, “Workaholics” actors Anders Holm and Adam DeVine have both joined Nancy Meyers‘ comedy “The Intern” with Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro [Deadline/THR], while Brian Cox will play a military type in Adam Sandler blockbuster “Pixels” [THR]. James Brolin will be the father of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey in comedy “The Nest” [Deadline], while Australian singer Kylie Minogue, last seen in “Holy Motors,” is teaming up with The Rock for earthquake movie “San Andreas” [THR], Michael K. Williams and Mo’Nique have joined Dee Rees‘ Queen Latifah-starring HBO biopic “Bessie” [Variety], and Sarah Paulson will star opposite Nicolas Cage in “The Runner.” [Deadline].