This week:
Potential casting news for Jason Reitman’s next film; The Rock and McG plan to remake The Fall Guy; Matthew Vaughn’s The Secret Service finds its female lead; Ice Cube joins 22 Jump Street; Ian McKellen will play an older Sherlock Holmes; Johnny Depp courts Joel Edgerton to replace him on Shantaram; and David Fincher’s Gone Girl bolsters its cast before heading into production.
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Adam Sandler, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Jennifer Garner are all reportedly in negotiations to join Jason Reitman’s Men, Women, and Children.
Jason Reitman is out and about promoting his latest film, Labor Day, but that isn’t stopping Men, Women, and Children from building its own buzz. However, while these three high-profile stars are in contention for roles, no official deals have been made.
Men, Women, and Children is an adaptation of Chad Kultgen’s book about a family dealing with sex-related questions in a digital age. Specifically, the book addresses how parents deal with their childrens’ easy access to pornography. For Reitman, who has been known to tackle contemporary issues albeit with a humorous slant, this film sounds right up his alley.
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The forthcoming adaptation of the TV series The Fall Guy is back on track, with director McG (This Means War) and Dwayne Johnson now on board.
Last we had heard, the project was in development with Casino Royale director Martin Campbell at the helm, but those plans apparently fell through. It’s possible that story elements from that film’s script might be preserved, but it sounds unlikely, given the timing.
For those that might not be familiar with The Fall Guy, it was a somewhat popular TV show in the ’80s about a stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter. Lee Majors played the eponymous main character in the series, Colt Seavers, and presumably it would be Johnson who plays him in the feature film.
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The Secret Service, the upcoming adaptation of Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons’ comic book, has found its female lead in newcomer Sophie Cookson.
The Secret Service is Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn’s latest comic book adaptation – the project that he pulled out of X-Men: Days of Future Past to direct. The story follows an older secret service agent who trains his nephew to be a prestigious secret agent.
Cookson reportedly beat out bigger names like Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows), as Vaughn decided to go with an unknown for the character. That said, the director has found success in casting new talent in his films, so there’s no reason to judge the casting choice just yet.
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Ice Cube and Amber Stevens have signed on to the 21 Jump Street sequel, 22 Jump Street.
Although reports don’t implicitly say so, it’s safe to assume Ice Cube will be reprising his role as Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt’s (Jonah Hill) boss. The sequel finds the duo heading off to college this time around, and we’re sure that the requisite amount of high jinks will ensue. For Hill’s character, that includes a new love interest, played by Stevens.
In addition to Tatum, Hill, and Cube, directors Chris Lord and Phil Miller are also returning for 22 Jump Street. While Tatum and Hill are the face of the newly christened comedy franchise, a strong argument could be made that the Lord/Miller duo will be just as instrumental in the film’s potential success.
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Beloved British actor Ian McKellen will reunite with his Gods and Monsters director, Bill Condon, for A Slight Trick of the Mind.
A Slight Trick of the Mind is based on the book by Mitch Cullin and follows an older, wiser (if that’s possible) Sherlock Holmes, who has been haunted by an unsolved mystery for the past 50 years. As one might expect, Holmes is dissatisfied with having not solved the mystery, and so he sets off to do just that.
Although several actors have played Holmes in such a short amount of time, this seems to be a slightly different take on the character. And, with McKellen in the role and Condon behind the camera, there’s no doubt this will be a Holmes tale to keep an eye on.
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Warner Bros. wants Joel Edgerton for the long-gestating adaptation of Shantaram.
While the film was, at one point, in development with Johnny Depp slated to star, the 2007 Writer’s Strike derailed those plans. Depp has stayed on as a producer, though, and now he apparently wants Joel Edgerton (Great Gatsby) to take on the role he was set to play.
Shantaram is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory David Roberts and follows an Australian heroin addict who reinvents himself as a doctor in India and eventually helps repel Russian forces in Afghanistan. It’s certainly a meaty role for Edgerton and one that would let him flex his acting chops.
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David Fincher’s Gone Girl adds several more actors to its cast.
Before getting into the most recent casting news, it’s important to report what we already know about the film. That includes Ben Affleck singing on to play the lead, a man accused of his wife’s murder when she goes missing, and The World’s End‘s Rosamund Pike playing the wife.
While the leads have already been secured for Gone Girl, there were still a few smaller roles to fill out. Among the more notable additions to the cast are Tyler Perry as Affleck’s character’s lawyer and Neil Patrick Harris as the ex-boyfriend of Rosamund Pike’s character. Other actors added to the cast include Patrick Fugit, Kim Dickens, and Carrie Coon.
