There’s a lot of breaking news in Hollywood happening every minute. In the age of the blockbuster, it’s easy for some smaller movie and television news to slip through the crack. Last Week in Hollywood is our new weekly series highlighting all the interesting news from the last week that we thought didn’t warrant its own post, but was still worth mentioning. It’s less personal opinions and more a hearty roundup of what you might have missed.
Johannson, Evans to Lead Ghosted
Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans are in advanced negotiations to star in Ghosted, a romantic action adventure film set up at Apple Studios. Johansson and Evans are longtime friends who worked extensively together over the last decade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman) is at the helm. The script is by Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese (Deadpool, Zombieland). The duo came up with the idea for Ghosted and sold it to Skydance as a pitch.
Additional Cast Announced for Wednesday
The full cast for Wednesday has been announced. The upcoming live-action series based on The Addams Family is set to star Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán were also recently confirmed to be playing Wednesday’s parents in the Tim Burton-directed show.
The rest of the cast now includes:
- Hunter Doohan (Your Honor) as Tyler Galpin, a townie who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Wednesday Addams. Tyler has a troubled relationship with his father, the local sheriff;
- Georgie Farmer (Treadstone) as Ajax Petropolus, a student at Nevermore Academy who also happens to be a Gorgon. Awkward and shy, Ajax is anxious about looking anyone in the eye;
- Moosa Mostafa (Nativity Rocks!) as Eugene Otinger, one of Nevermore Academy’s quirkiest students and president of the school’s bee-keeping club;
- Emma Myers (Girl in the Basement) as Enid Sinclair, Wednesday’s sunny and colorful Californian roommate at Nevermore Academy. Enid hails from a pack of San Francisco Werewolves;
- Naomi J. Ogawa (Skylin3s) as Yoko Tanaka, a vampire with Harajuku-inspired Goth flair and one of the cool kids at Nevermore Academy.
- Joy Sunday (Dear White People) as Bianca Barclay, one of Nevermore Academy’s most popular students, Bianca descends from a long line of Sirens with a mesmerizing power to persuade.
- Percy Hynes White (The Gifted) as Xavier Thorpe, a charismatic and supernaturally artistic Nevermore Academy student, who comes from wealth thanks to his celebrity psychic father.
- Thora Birch (Ghost World) as Tamara Novak, Wednesday’s dorm mother and the only “Normie” on staff at Nevermore Academy with a focus on all things botanical.”
- Riki Lindhome (Knives Out) as Dr. Valerie Kinbott, a local therapist in the sleepy town of Jericho who takes a particular interest in her newest patient Wednesday Addams.
- Jamie McShane (Mank) as Sheriff Donovan Galpin, born and bred in Jericho, this Sheriff has always had an issue with Nevermore Academy and a vendetta against former student Gomez Addams.
Here’s the official logline for Wednesday: “The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”
Jake Gyllenhaal to Star in Oblivion Song
Jake Gyllenhaal is set to produce and star in Oblivion Song. The film is based on the acclaimed series of graphic novels by Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici that tells the story of “Nathan Cole, a man who makes daily trips to try and rescue those still living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion—a part of Philadelphia lost a decade ago, along with 300,000 of its citizens.”
Oblivion Song is the first project announced under the first look deal between New Republic and Nine Stories.
The Lion King Prequel Casts Mufasa & Scar
Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves) and Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad) are set to lead the voice cast of the upcoming The Lion King prequel. Pierre will play Mufasa while Harrison Jr. is playing Taka, the birth name of Scar. Additional casting is in process.
Production is currently underway for the prequel, which will continue to use photorealistic animation technology (Disney calls it “live-action”). Moonlight director Barry Jenkins is set to direct. The prequel will further explore the mythology of the iconic characters, including Mufasa’s origin story.
Jason Statham is The Bee Keeper
Jason Statham is set to star in The Bee Keeper for Miramax. The film is a lightning-paced thriller deeply steeped in the mythology of Bee Keeping. It will explore “universal themes” and has “an unconventional story that will have fans sitting on the edge of their seats.”
The spec script was written by Kurt Wimmer. Production is aiming to start in September 2022 in London and Atlanta.
Lewis Pullman Cast as Lead in Salem’s Lot
Lewis Pullman (Catch-22) has been cast in the lead role in New Line’s adaptation of Stephen King’s best-selling novel, Salem’s Lot. Pullman will star as author Ben Mears, “a man who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a vampire, leading him to band together a ragtag group that will fight the evil presence.”
Gary Dauberman (It, It: Chapter Two) wrote the script and is directing the feature project. Shooting is expected to begin in September in Boston. Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear are producing with Vertigo’s Roy Lee. Both companies are behind some of the most successful horror movies of the last decade.
Sterling K. Brown Snags Another Role
I feel like I write about Sterling K. Brown once a week. With This Is Us wrapping up its final season, the acclaimed actor has been busy filling up his now open schedule with new projects.
Brown will star with Mark Duplass (The Morning Show) in Biosphere, a science-fiction film that will be directed by Mel Eslyn (Room 104). Eslyn and Duplass wrote the script.
Corey Hawkins to Star in The Color Purple
Corey Hawkins is set to star in Warner Bros.‘s feature adaptation of the Broadway musical The Color Purple, based on Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 1985 movie. Hawkins is set to play the role of Harpo. Blitz Bazawule is set to direct.
The Color Purple hits theaters on December 21, 2023.
Mckenna Grace Joins Perfect
Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) has joined the cast of Searchlight’s feature Perfect. The film is based on the book Landing On My Feet, A Diary Of Dreams by Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug and John P. Lopez. The movie will tell “the true story of the gymnast’s triumph against the odds to win Team USA’s first gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Strug was hailed as an American hero when she completed her final vault at the Atlanta games on a badly injured ankle to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) is playing Strug. It’s unknown who Grace will be playing. Olivia Wilde will direct. Filming is set to begin in 2022.
Ryan Whitney Newman Cast in Reagan
Ryan Whitney Newman (Zeke and Luther) has joined the cast of Reagan, the upcoming biopic centered on Ronald Reagan, actor and the 40th President of the United States. Newman will play Reagan’s first love, Margaret “Mugs” Cleaver, opposite David Henrie, who is playing a younger version of the president.
Dennis Quaid stars as the older version of Reagan. The film will follow “Ronald Reagan’s journey from his childhood in Dixon, IL to Hollywood to the White House.” It will hit theaters sometime in 2022. The film also stars Penelope Ann Miller, Mena Suvari, Lesley-Anne Down, Kevin Dillon, and Jon Voight.
Gigi Gustin Joins Chastise
Gigi Gustin has joined Chastise, an upcoming horror-thriller that also stars Bill Moseley, Sydney Malakeh, Cassandra Ballard, Malcolm Danare, and Tasha Tacosa.
Demetrius Navarro directs the project, which is currently in production. The film focuses on two young women who are inspired by watching horrific events and “set out on a cross-country trail of chaos in their mobile tattoo van. With deviant subjects lurking around every corner, they devise an experiment that’s part human trials and full vigilante justice. Their avant garde methods go viral and ignite a social movement.”
Eddie Murphy to Star Opposite Jonah Hill
Eddie Murphy will star opposite Jonah Hill in an untitled comedy feature for Netflix. Kenya Barris, who was a writer on Coming 2 America, will direct the feature. Barris also co-wrote the script with Hill.
Plot details are being kept secret, but it is said to be “an incisive examination of modern love and family dynamics and how clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences shape and affect relationships. Murphy and Hill will find themselves on opposite sides of some of those divides.”
That’s it for the last week. What castings mentioned are you interested in seeing the most onscreen? Tell us down in the comments!
