Following up on his much-loved “Happy-Go-Lucky,” Mike Leigh has begun production on his new project in London. Known simply as Untitled 09, the project’s cast consists of Leigh-regulars Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent and Phillip Davis as well as the likes of Michele Austin, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez, Oliver Maltman, Lesley Manville, Stuart McQuarrie, Martin Savage, Ruth Sheen and Peter Wight. Nothing is yet known about the story. [ScreenDaily]
Kate Winslet is set to narrate “The Sunshine Boy,” a first-person account by producer Margret Dagmar Ericsdottir of her quest to understand her severely autistic, 11-year-old son Keli. The film will screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. [ScreenDaily]
Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner “The White Ribbon” has been officially chosen as Germany’s representative at this year’s Academy Awards. The film is set in a rural German village on the eve of WWI and centers on a series of disturbing events, examining the malevolence of human nature. [Variety]
Helen Mirren and Pete Postlethwaite have joined the cast of Rowan Joffe’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s “Brighton Rock.” The film, led by Sam Riley and Andrea Riseborough, is about a gangster and his wife who are only together after Riseborough witnessed a murder at the hands of Riley. [ScreenDaily]
As we reported nearly three weeks ago, Blake Lively has joined the cast of Ben Affleck’s Boston-based crime-drama “The Town.” Lively plays the sister of Jeremy Renner’s criminal character. Starring Affleck, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm, the film centers on a bank manager (Hall), the career criminal (Affleck) who stole more than her heart and the dedicated FBI agent (Hamm) trying to bust the crook. Chris Cooper is also in talks to join. [THR]