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I'll probably be disowned by everyone I know for saying this, but I think Leonardo DiCaprio is overrated. By no means am I saying that he's not a decent actor -- he can hold his own -- but I've never really thought the guy could transform himself into other people. He can emote with the best of them, and the man can deliver a line, but whenever I see him onscreen, I see Leonardo DiCaprio, not whatever character he's playing. Then again, I was sitting in the very front row directly in front of the air conditioner output when I went to see Titanic, which got coincidentally frigid right about the time Jack was freezing to death in the water, which made for a seriously miserable movie experience, so maybe I have a DiCaprio mental block. Anyway, whenever Leonardo decides on a role, it's always big news, and his latest pick is no exception.
Having just enjoyed the Blu-ray version of Iron Man while off on my holiday vacation (I don't have a pretty HDTV or surround-sound system of my own, so I take advantage of other people's whenever possible), my eyes are pretty sharply tuned for any news about the film's sequel. And back home not more than three days (with my 27" 1999 bulbous Panasonic and two dusty Sony speakers that I can't turn up because I live in an apartment) what should I spy, but not only Iron Man 2 news, but Iron Man 2 villain casting news! It turns out that both Mickey Rourke -- fresh off of yesterday's The Expendables casting session -- and Sam Rockwell are in talks to join the film.
Relative Hollywood newcomer Garrett Hedlund's IMDb page will now be bookended with similar credits, as the actor, who got his start in 2004's Troy, has just been cast as the lead in 2011's Tron. And yes, that whole Tron 2.0 - TR2N - Tron 2 business has finally been put to rest, as the sequel to the 1982 cult classic has finally settled on a title, which will be... the exact same as the original.
It's hard to believe that a few years ago, Sylvester Stallone was pretty much off the radar, playing a villain in a Spy Kids movie with his glory days largely behind him. Now, after making another Rocky movie and another Rambo movie, all of a sudden everyone wants to work with him. (Let this be a lesson to all those actors out there who don't want to be in franchises.) As previously reported, Sly has written a new action movie for himself to direct and star in, and the cast he's assembled so far -- combined with the actors he's still going after -- is mind-bogglingly awesome.
While some people were excited to see Titanic duo Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio teaming up again for Revolutionary Road, some of us were eagerly waiting for another big movie pair-up... for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, co-stars of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Not only will they buddy up again as comic book geeks for 2010's Paul (which the two also wrote) but they've also just been confirmed for Steven Spielberg's big-screen adaptation of Belgian artist Hergé's comic strips, The Adventures of Tintin. The two will play Thompson and Thompson, a pair of bumbling detectives who will be showing up earlier in than they did in Hergé's work, where they first stumbled onto the scene in Tintin's fourth adventure.
Way back in July, Comic-Con attendees got a taste of the long-rumored Tron sequel in the form of teaser footage showing Jeff Bridges as once-heroic Kevin Flynn, seemingly gone bad. There were special effects, even, and a Light Cycle chase! It seemed like things were well underway and on target for that 2010 release date. Now comes news that they've only just begun hiring the actors.
As everyone knows by now, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke isn't directing the sequel, New Moon. Apparently, she's being replaced by Chris Weitz, who previously directed The Golden Compass. Weitz reportedly has a "solid relationship" with the big wigs at Summit Entertainment and although Weitz's agency has not confirmed the deal, Summit has "stopped negotiations" with other director hopefuls. Pre-production for the film could begin as early as this Monday. This isn't the only big change looming, though, as Summit might be looking to replace their original Jacob Black.
Keanu Reeves doesn't exactly have a spotless track record where period films are concerned. How does the joke go? His performance as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula was so wooden you could have staked a vampire through the heart with it. Not that many of his performances in films with modern settings have gotten a better reception, but things do tend to stick out more in a period piece. It's like that one guy who shows up at your party not realizing it's a costume party and then stands around looking awkward for two hours. But give the guy credit for persevering: Variety reports that he's just signed on to star in 47 Ronin for Universal Pictures, where he'll play an 18th century samurai swordsman. Wait -- it gets better. Or worse, depending on your perspective.
Johnny Depp is definitely keeping himself more than busy. In addition to all of his upcoming projects and his running a secret production company, legendary producer Richard Zanuck has announced what his next next project will be. After working with Tim Burton on Alice in Wonderland, Collider.com reports that Depp will again team with the director on a film take of the 70's gothic ABC soap opera Dark Shadows.
Sounds like some Hollywood agents were working over the holiday weekend. A couple of pieces of casting news have emerged today, and now that we're all emerging from our tryptophan hangovers we can get back to business, too. First up, Shia LaBeouf has signed on to star in the film adaptation of the new John Grisham thriller The Associate for Paramount. The novel, which will be published in January by Random House, tells the story of a Yale Law student (LaBeouf) who is manipulated into accepting a job at a prestigious law firm and given privileged information about a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. Being a Grisham novel, one would assume for nefarious purposes and with lots of running. The film will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who got the book while shooting the Transformers sequel with LaBeouf in the Middle East, and who, I feel I must note, produced both A Time to Kill and The Client, two movies I will watch whenever they are on TV, at any time.
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