Casting News From The Last Week . . .
-Mary-Louise Parker, Ving Rhames, and James Woods have joined Jamesy Boy. The film tells the story of a young suburban street gang member who gets sent to a maximum-security prison. Once inside, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a convicted murderer (as one does) who ends up becoming the boy’s mentor “and ultimately defines and changes the course of his life.”
-Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in talks to star in Brett Ratner’s adaptation of Steve Moore’s graphic novel 
Hercules: The Thracian Wars with a script by Ryan Condal (Paradise Lost). The Synopsis: Nearly 3,200 years ago, a tormented soul walked the Earth as neither man nor god: Hercules, powerful son of the god-king Zeus, and for this he received nothing but suffering. After 12 arduous labors and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods, finding solace only in bloody battle. Over the years, he warmed to the company of six similar souls, bonded by their love of fighting and the presence of death never questioning where they go or who they fight, just how much they will be paid. Now the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to turn his men into the greatest army of all time, which means training them to be as bloodthirsty and ruthless as their own reputation. It is time for this band of lost souls to finally have their eyes opened to how far they have fallen and the narrow, perilous path to their own redemption. [Amazon]
-Dwight Yoakam has pulled out of Disney’s The Lone Ranger and William Fitcher has replaced him.
-A sequel to Will Smith’s I Am Legend is moving forward. THR reports Arash Amel has been tapped to write the sequel to the 2007 hit, with Will Smith back onboard as both star and producer.
-Ed Helms on the Status of The Hangover 3: “Well, we don’t know if we’ll start filming yet, for sure. Honestly, we’re hopeful and excited, and I think there’s a lot of good energy around it, but we’re not over the finish line, as far as getting it done. But, as far as when it would happen, I don’t know. Really, if we can get everything sorted out, then I imagine it might go quickly, but I don’t really know.”
-THR is reporting that Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Luis Guzmán, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, 
Michelle Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Kurtwood Smith, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson will all be voicing characters in the animated film Turbo. The film follows a garden snail (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of racing and moving fast. While his desire has resulted in him becoming an outcast in the snail community, when his wish is granted he begins on a path that will lead him to the Indianapolis 500.
-According to Variety, Lily Collins (of the upcoming Mirror, Mirror and who recently departed The Evil Dead remake) has agreed to star in Fox 2000′s rom-com Rosaline. The film would be based on Rebecca Serle’s yet-to-be-published novel, When You Were Mine, the movie will take a less traditional look at William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by focusing on what happened to the girl Romeo declared he loved so intensely, then abruptly abandoned: Rosaline.
-And finally, a creepy new poster for the Jack Black film Bernie has appeared on-line via EW. The film is set to open April 27th. The plot:
In the tiny, rural town of Carthage, TX, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede was one of the town’s most beloved residents. He taught Sunday school, sang in the church choir and was always willing to lend a helping hand. Everyone loved and appreciated Bernie, so it came as no surprise when he befriended Marjorie Nugent, an affluent widow who was as well known for her sour attitude as her fortune. Bernie frequently traveled with Marjorie and even managed her banking affairs. Marjorie quickly became fully dependant on Bernie and his generosity and Bernie struggled to meet her increasing demands. Bernie continued to handle her affairs, and the townspeople went months without seeing Marjorie. The people of Carthage were shocked when it was reported that Marjorie Nugent had been dead for some time, and Bernie Tiede was being charged with the murder.
In this dark comedy, director Richard Linklater captures all the hilarity, friendliness, eccentricity and absolute strangeness of small-town Texas life. Jack Black plays Bernie Tiede, Shirley MacLaine plays Mrs. Nugent, and Matthew McConaughey plays the town’s blustery real-life District Attorney, Danny Buck Davidson, who was determined to get to the bottom of the crime. Co-written by Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth, BERNIE is a Mandalay Vision and Wind Dancer Films production.
Sources :
Variety
THR
Deadline
