With his turn as a Marvel supervillain in “X-Men: Days of Futures Past” in the can, “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage has found a new project. The actor is set to star in an R-rated comedy about a man who tells people he’s a real leprechaun. In the vein of “Bad Santa,” the untitled comedy will be penned by Andrew Dodge, who wrote Jason Bateman’s less than stellar directorial debut “Bad Words.” Based on the premise, the Dinklage comedy looks to be a better bet. [Hollywood Reporter]
Salma Hayek has jumped aboard the Pierce Brosnan-starring “How to Make Love Like an Englishman.” The story follows a hedonistic professor (Brosnan) who impregnates a graduate student (Jessica Alba) while falling for the student’s stepsister (Hayek). The tangled web, called a “sexually charged romantic comedy,” is being helmed by Tom Vaughan (“Starter for 10”) with Brosnan as executive producer. [Deadline]
Back in April, we reported on Brad Pitt taking the lead in David Ayers’s (“End of Watch”) World War II film, “Fury.” On top of a cast that already includes Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, and Michael Pena, Jason Isaacs has joined, playing “the confident captain and veteran on the team that Pitt’s character looks to for advice.” The movie follows a five-man crew of Americans who run across a desperate division of Germans. “Fury” is currently filming in London. [Hollywood Reporter]
Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet will play sisters in Diane Bell’s drama “Shiva and May.” Biel plays a yoga instructor hell-bent on protecting her sex worker sister (Mamet) from a bad boyfriend to be played by Joe Anderson. The movie also stars Edi Gathegi and Kate Burton. [The Wrap]
Alex Proyas’ (“Dark City”) epic “Gods of Egypt” continues to acquire its cast. In June it was announced that “Game of Thrones’” Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would play the lead in the production, which tells of a common thief who teams up with a mythical god on a quest through Egypt. (“Immortals” meets “Clash of the Titans?”) Now the other half of the team, the thief, has been cast—Brenton Thwaites will be playing the thief after a few almost-starring roles in “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and the new Pirates of the Caribbean. “Gods of Egypt” also stars Gerard Butler and Geoffrey Rush. [Variety]
Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”), Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) and Kate Walsh (“Private Practice”) are set to lead director Rustam Branaman’s drama “Any Day.” Tom Arnold has also recently jumped onboard, playing a former alcoholic who gives Bean’s fighter a second chance at life. The plot follows an ex-fighter (Bean), a young woman he’s interested in (Longoria) and his single-mother sister (Walsh). Branaman will be directing the film based on his original screenplay. Production starts in Los Angeles October 21st. [Hollywood Reporter/Deadline]
Director William Monahan continues to hoard talent for his next directing gig, “Mojave.” Last December, the picture acquired “Zero Dark Thirty” star Jason Clarke, and “Inside Llewyn Davis’” Oscar Isaac. Now, Walton Goggins (“Justified”) has landed a gig in the project in an unspecified role. Plot details have also surfaced; the movie tells of a suicidal artist who goes into the eponymous desert only to find his doppelgänger in a homicidal drifter. Which characters Davis, Clarke and Goggins will be playing is currently unknown. “Mojave” has already begun filming in Los Angeles. [Deadline]
