This week in movie news:
Paul Greengrass may direct a new Jimi Hendrix biopic; Independence Day 2 finds its new U.S. president; a film adaptation based on graphic novel The Infinite Horizon is in development; a new trailer for Ricki and the Flash has been released; Lily James joins Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver; Natalie Portman lines up a pair of new projects; and Angelina Jolie’s By the Sea gets a release date.
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Legendary Pictures and Experience Hendrix – the estate of the late Jimi Hendrix – are developing a new biopic on the iconic musician’s life, with director Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, The Bourne Ultimatum) attached to lead the project. Unlike the unauthorized 2013 release Jimi: All Is By My Side, the music of Hendrix will be featured in the film.
The new film was previously in development years ago, but progress stalled when Legendary failed to come to an agreement with the Hendrix estate. There’s no word on who may be in mind to star in the untitled project, though Anthony Mackie (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) was previously attached.
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Sela Ward has joined the cast of director Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day 2 as the new President of the United States, following Bill Pullman’s memorable turn as the commander-in-chief in the original film. She previously starred in Emmerich’s 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow.
Ward – who was last seen in David Fincher’s Oscar-nominated Gone Girl – joins a cast that includes returning stars Pullman, Jeff Goldblum and Vivica A. Fox as well as new additions Liam Hemsworth and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Production is currently underway for a June 24, 2016, release date.
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Warner Bros. is developing a film adaptation of the Gerry Duggan graphic novel series The Infinite Horizon, based on a script by Ryan Condal (Hercules). The plot – inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey – centers on an unnamed soldier’s journey home after a years-long war.
Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern, Pan) is attached to produce the film. Condal will also serve as executive producer on the film. The Infinite Horizon was first published in 2007.
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Sony has released a new trailer for Ricki and the Flash, the upcoming musical comedy/drama starring Meryl Streep. The film centers on a musician who returns home to her family after sacrificing her personal life for her music career.
Kevin Kline, Sebastian Stan and Streep’s real-life daughter Mamie Gummer costar. Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) directs the movie based on a script by Oscar-winner Diablo Cody (Juno).
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Cinderella star Lily James is in talks to join the cast of Baby Driver, the new crime thriller from writer/director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead). The film stars Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) as a mute young man who goes on the run from a group of bank robbers.
James will costar as a waitress and love interest to Elgort’s character. She will next star in the big-screen adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, due to hit theaters on February 19, 2016.
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Natalie Portman is nearing a deal to star in Annihilation, the new sci-fi film from director Alex Garland (Ex Machina). The film – based on the Jeff VanderMeer novel – follows a biologist on a top-secret mission where the laws of nature don’t apply.
In addition, Portman will star as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex, with Marielle Heller attached to direct. Based on the 2014 Black List script by Daniel Stiepleman, the film will follow Ginsburg’s fight for equal rights as the first Jewish female Justice.
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Universal has announced a November 13, 2015, release date for By the Sea, the new drama starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The film marks Jolie’s directorial followup to last year’s Unbroken.
Jolie and Pitt star as a married couple who – along with two other couples – sort out their personal issues in 1970s France. The film also stars Mélanie Laurent, Niels Arestrup, Melvil Poupaud and Richard Bohringer.
