This week in movie news:
Idris Elba and Laurence Fishburne are joining The Alchemist as star and director, respectively; a new trailer for Andrew Garfield-Michael Shannon thriller 99 Homes; the director of The Babadook lines up tragic love story Alice + Freda Forever; Robin Hood: Origins targets Peaky Blinders director; Jason Isaacs, Dane DeHaan and Mia Goth join supernatural horror film A Cure for Wellness; and The Dark Knight star Chin Han joins the growing cast of Independence Day 2.
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Idris Elba and Laurence Fishburne are both nearing a deal to board The Weinstein Company’s adaptation of the 1988 Paulo Coelho bestseller The Alchemist. Elba and Fishburne would star in and direct the film, respectively, and the studio is hoping to get filming started before next year.
The story centers on a young Spaniard on a journey to uncover a treasure hidden within the Egyptian pyramids. The film rights to Coelho’s novel – which has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 different languages – were acquired in 1994 by Warner Bros. However, the project has been trapped in development for years, with Fishburne ultimately acquiring the rights and Harvey Weinstein coming onboard as producer in 2008.
Source: Deadline
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Broad Green Pictures has released a new trailer for upcoming thriller 99 Homes. Directed by Ramin Bahrani, the film stars Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) as Dennis Nash, a single father who is evicted from his home and turns to ruthless businessman Rick Carver (Michael Shannon, Man of Steel) to save his family home. This decision ultimately makes the situation even more complicated, as he finds himself drawn in deeper than he planned.
In addition to acclaimed actors Garfield and Shannon, the film also stars Laura Dern, Noah Lomax, Tim Guinee and Clancey Brown. It hits select theaters on September 25, 2015, the same day that animated sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 and Nancy Meyers comedy The Intern will be released.
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Jennifer Kent – who made her feature directorial debut with last year’s critically acclaimed horror film The Babadook – has signed on to write and direct a film adaptation of the Alexis Coe book Alice + Freda Forever for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. The real-life story centers on a budding romance between two young girls in 1892 Memphis that ultimately leads to a gruesome murder.
Coe’s book – which was published last year – reportedly follows tons of research into the case and the love story of Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward that preceded it. This includes more than 100 love letters, maps, artifacts, historical documents, newspaper articles and courtroom proceedings.
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Lionsgate’s Robin Hood: Origins film appears to be taking shape, as the studio is currently in talks with Otto Bathurst to direct the film. Bathurst previously directed the first season of Peaky Blinders, the BBC series that stars Cillian Murphy as a gang leader in post-WWI England.
Joby Harold – who’s also scripting Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur film Knights of the Round Table – had previously been announced as the writer of the project, which is one of several Robin Hood films in the works. In addition to Lionsgate’s version, both Sony and Disney are planning to kick off franchises based on the iconic outlaw, last brought to life on the big screen by Russell Crowe in director Ridley Scott’s 2010 Robin Hood.
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Jason Isaacs, Dane DeHaan and Mia Goth will star in a new supernatural horror film for director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean). Titled A Cure for Wellness, the film centers on a young man (DeHaan) who finds himself trapped in a dark and mysterious health spa after going there to retrieve his boss.
Isaacs – best known as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series – will play the film’s villain and director of the spa, while Goth plays a patient there. A Cure for Wellness is set to begin filming in Europe this month and will be distributed worldwide by 20th Century Fox.
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Director Roland Emmerich took to Twitter to announce that Chin Han has joined the cast of Independence Day 2. No details about his character in the film – which is set to hit theaters on June 24, 2016 – have been revealed just yet.
The actor has appeared in a number of fan-favorite projects, such as The Dark Knight, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The CW’s Arrow. In Independence Day 2, he joins a cast that already includes fellow Dark Knight star William Fichtner, Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Joey King, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward and returning stars Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner.
