In casting news, Al Pacino joins Ellen Barkin and the usual suspects in Stephen Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen, where he’ll play “Willie Banks, the owner of a high-profile casino and hotel in Las Vegas.” And, fresh from A History of Violence, Viggo Mortensen re-ups with David Cronenberg for Eastern Promises, a project penned by Dirty Pretty Things‘ Steve Knight.
Category: Casting
Halls of Montezuma.
Have Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain and Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto started a trend? Antonio Banderas signs on to Conquistador, a biopic of Hernando Cortes.
Lucky Number?
It looks like the rumors are true, and Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen is a go, with everyone returning (except possibly Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones) to shoot this summer for a 2007 release. Also joining in the fun this go ’round is Ellen Barkin, who will have something to do with Matt Damon’s character.
Elizabeth My Dear.
Tear me apart and boil my bones…Cate Blanchett is set to once again play the Virgin Queen in a sequel to 1998’s Elizabeth, one that will also include Samantha Morton as Mary Queen of Scots.
Benicio Del Lobo.
After finishing up Che, Benicio del Toro will channel Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man, yet another remake in the pipeline. Hopefully it’s more Mummy than Van Helsing.
Hope you like leftovers.
Dallas (with Jennifer Lopez, Luke Wilson, John Travolta, and Shirley MacLaine)? Welcome Back Kotter (with Ice Cube)? The Dirty Dozen (now with “a personal element to it,” ’cause the original wasn’t a classic or anything)? Yep, it’s looking bleak in Hollywood these days on the new idea front.
Red Sun Rising.
Ken Watanabe will head the cast of Clint Eastwood’s Red Sun, his forthcoming companion piece to Iwo Jima film Flags of our Fathers. “Eastwood, who is in post with ‘Flags,’ will shoot the companion entirely in Japanese.”
A Handful of Dust.
I’m a few days behind on this one: Layer Cake‘s Matthew Vaughn is writing, producing, and directing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, which will star Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, and Michelle Pfeiffer. I haven’t read Gaiman’s book, but all signs point to this being a very interesting project.
The Buzz on Fuzz.
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright of the “hugely successful romzomcom” Shaun of the Dead announce the cast and details of their next project, the buddy-cop movie Hot Fuzz. Pegg will play a London cop who gets sent out to the sticks (Somerset), where he’s teamed up with new partner Nick Frost (also of Shaun.) Around to stir up trouble for this dynamic duo are a murderer’s row of British hams, including Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan, Martin Freeman, and Timothy Dalton.
From Harper Lee to Wild Things.
Catherine Keener joins Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, which looks set to go, as Max’s Mom (and the instigator of his adventures in the Wild kingdom.)