Things are looking good for Viola Davis. Having snagged the SAG Award for her turn in "The Help," barring a late arrival from the Meryl Streep Train, in a few weeks, the actress will land her first Oscar win. At least that's what we hope. But while we wait to see how that plays out, Davis is using her awards season bank a couple of movies and they are both as different as it gets.
First up, she's going the crew for the sci-fi tentpole "Ender's Game." Set to be directed by Gavin Hood (shudder), the long developing big screen take on the classic novel by Orson Scott Card. Set in the future, the story finds the Earth at war with an insectoid race named the Formics, and follows Ender, one of a group of children being trained to be military commanders. She joins an impressive roster of young and veteran talent with Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley and Harrison Ford all on board. And she'll be taking a solid role here, playing a psyschologist who oversees the children who are being trained, and develops games to test their skills. Filming kicks off soon with a March 15, 2013 release all set to go.
Once she's done that, she'll be keeping in the spirit of young adult fare, as she is set to star in Warner Bros. and Alcon's "Beautiful Creatures." Based on the first book in the best selling YA series by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia, and adapted and directed by Richard LaGravenese ("Water For Elephants," "P.S. I Love You") the story follows two teens — Lena, who posses some kind of secret supernatural gift and Ethan, the boy who loves her — and follows their journey to confront a curse that has plagued her family. Davis will play a librariarn and close friend of Ethan's dead mother, who cares and protects the child as if it were her own. There are already three novels in the series so WB is clearly thinking franchise. No word yet on when this will roll, but the casting is off to a good start. [Variety]