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.
Donal Logue Joins Resident Evil Reboot
Donal Logue
PaleyFest Made in New York Presents – Gotham, USA – 19 Oct 2016
Donal Logue (Gotham) has been cast to play Chief Irons in the upcoming Resident Evil origin story reboot movie currently in development. Chad Rook (The Flash) and Lily Gao (The Handmaid’s Tale) have also been cast in supporting roles. The three join the previously announced Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia and Neal McDonough.
Production is currently underway. The film is set for release in 2021.
Steve Agee Returning for ‘Peacemaker’ Series
Steve Agee, who is set to star in The Suicide Squad as John Economos and King Shark, will return for the upcoming Peacemaker series. But sorry King Shark fans, Agee will be returning to play the ward of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary John Economos. He is the second confirmed cast member to board Peacemaker after returning star John Cena.
Writer-director James Gunn recently revealed that he has begun his two-week quarantine in Canada for the series meaning it will likely begin filming shortly.
Chastain, Hathaway Join Mothers’ Instinct
Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway are going to play rival housewives in the psychological thriller Mothers’ Instinct. The film will be the English-language remake of Olivier Masset-Depasse‘s 2018 Belgian film Duelles. Masset-Depasse will return to direct the remake. Writer Sarah Conradt (50 States of Fright) is set to adapt the English language script of the film, which is based on Barbara Abel’s novel Derrière la Haine.
The film is “set in the early ‘60s” and follows “best friends and neighbors Alice (Chastain) and Celine (Hathaway) who both live an idyllic traditional lifestyle with manicured lawns, successful husbands and sons of the same age. Life’s perfect harmony is suddenly shattered after a tragic accident. Guilt, suspicion and paranoia combine to unravel their sisterly bond and a psychological battle of wills begins as the maternal instinct reveals its darker side.”
Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson Board Bullet Train
Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are the latest actors to board Bullet Train. The upcoming action-thriller from director David Leitch has already cast Brad Pitt, Joey King, and Andrew Koji as passengers (and assassins) on the train. It is expected that both of them will also be playing assassins.
The film is based upon Kôtarô Isaka’s novel Mariabeetle and follows several “assassins who find themselves on a fast-moving bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with only a few stops in between. Strangely, they discover their missions are not unrelated to each other.”
Jamie Foxx Starring in Vampire Movie Day Shift
Jamie Foxx (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) is set to star in Day Shift, a new Netflix vampire movie. JJ Perry, who was a stunt coordinator on John Wick: Chapter 2, is set to make his feature directorial debut with Day Shift. John Wick director Chad Stahelski will produce.The script was written by Tyler Tice. It won the top prize at the Slamdance Writing Competition.
The film stars Foxx as a “hard working blue collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his quick-witted 8-year old daughter, but his mundane San Fernando Valley pool cleaning job is a front for his real source of income, hunting and killing vampires,” per the Netflix logline.
Scarlett Johansson is the Bride for AppleTV+, A24
Scarlett Johansson is set to produce and star in Bride, which is being described as a “genre-bending” film from A24 and Apple TV+. The film hails from Chilean director Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman) who will co-write the screenplay with Orange is the New Black veterans Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo.
The story “follows a woman created to be an ideal wife — the singular obsession of a brilliant entrepreneur. When she rejects her creator, she’s forced to flee her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her as a monster. It is on the run that she finds her true identity, her surprising power, and the strength to remake herself as her own creation.”
Harrison Ford, Ed Helms Cast in Seafaring Comedy
Harrison Ford and Ed Helms have been cast in The Miserable Adventures of Burt Squire Aboard the Horn High Yo. Based on a true story, Helms will play “a disillusioned family man who tries to cope with his midlife crisis by embarking on a sailing vacation. The trip takes a turn for the worse when he’s shipwrecked with a manic sea captain, played by Harrison Ford.” Ben Bolea wrote the screenplay. STX Entertainment (The Gentlemen, Hustlers) will oversee distribution.
Jared Leto, Joe Manganiello Returning for Snyder Cut Reshoots
Jared Leto and Joe Manganiello are the latest names to join the growing cast taking part in reshoots for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The 4-hour miniseries will feature Snyder’s original plan for the 2017 film before Warner Bros. and Joss Whedon butchered it.
Leto and Manganiello will return as the Joker and Deathstroke. Also scheduled to take part in the reshoots include Ben Affleck (Batman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), and Amber Heard (Mera). Gal Gadot and Henry Cavill were reported previously to be taking part as well, but those have yet to be confirmed. It will be interesting to see if Leto and Manganiello are shooting extended cameos or if they will somehow factor into the plot.
The Things They Carried Secures All-Star Cast
Tye Sheridan (Mud), Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk), Bill Skarsgard (It Chapter One & Two), Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), Martin Sensmeier (The Magnificent Seven), Moises Arias (Monos), and Angus Cloud (Euphoria) have been set as the ensemble for the adaptation of The Things They Carried.
Rupert Sanders (Snow White And The Huntsman) will direct the feature adaptation of Tim O’Brien’s collection of stories “about a platoon of young soldiers and their experiences on the front lines during the Vietnam War.” Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan) will write the script.
Jake Gyllenhaal to Star in The Son Adaptation
HBO has greenlit a limited series adaptation of the Jo Nesbø novel The Son with Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star and executive produce. The novel is described as “a tale of vengeance set amid Oslo’s brutal hierarchy of corruption.”
Lenore Zion will serve as writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy will executive produce and serve as co-showrunners. Denis Villeneuve is attached to direct and executive produce.
Tony Jaa to Headline New Action Trilogy
Martial arts star Tony Jaa (Ong Bak, Furious 7) is set to star as the lead in a new action trilogy being developed by Starlight Entertainment. The first film will see Jaa play “a legendary assassin who disappeared three years ago and becomes the target of all criminal organizations and law enforcement agencies.” The film is aiming to begin shooting in 2021.
On the casting of Jaa, Starlight CEO Peter Luo said:
“Tony is the perfect artist to lead this fast moving, adrenaline rush of a movie, where the physical demands match the traditional leading man visceral performance needs. He’ll be able to demonstrate his full, and extremely impressive, repertoire of skills to elevate this story, which will have inherent cross-border appeal globally.”
Dave Bautista Will Become the Universe’s Most Wanted
Dave Bautista has joined the upcoming sci-fi thriller Universe’s Most Wanted that has Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Rampage) signed on to direct.
F. Scott Frazier and Jimmy Loweree wrote the script, which takes place in a “small town that’s in for a big surprise — and a fight for the world’s survival — when a spaceship carrying the universe’s most wanted and dangerous criminals crash-lands in their backyard. The sheriff’s son soon becomes a hero when he finds himself helping an intergalactic peacekeeper (Bautista) to keep the ragtag group of alien prisoners from escaping and taking over the world.” So yes, I’m aware my subheading for this news is factually incorrect.
The Hawkes to Star in Revolver
Real-life father and daughter Ethan Hawke and Maya Hawke will star together in Revolver. Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) is set to direct the picture from a script by Kate Trefry (Stranger Things).
The film, set in 1996, follows Jane (Maya Hawke), “a teen resident of Anchorage, Alaska. When the impossible happens — a flight to Japan carrying The Beatles is forced to make an unexpected stop — all hell breaks loose as the unsuspecting residents are consumed by Beatlemania. Jane devises a plan to lose her virginity to George Harrison, discovering that adventure (and romance) are actually a little closer to home than she thought.”
That’s one hell of a premise. I can’t wait to see who they cast as George Harrison.
Lily James, Emma Thompson Join Rom-Com What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Lily James is set to co-star with Emma Thompson (Late Night) and Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery) in a new romantic comedy from Working Title called What’s Love Got to Do With It? Well, what does love got to do with it?
Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) will direct the rom-com from a script by Jemima Khan (Impeachment: American Crime Story). The film is being described as a “cross-cultural rom-com about love and marriage set between London and South Asia.”
Kevin Bacon is Going One Way
Kevin Bacon has joined the cast of One Way, an action-thriller from director Andrew Baird. Bacon will play the father of a criminal, played by Colson Baker (Machine Gun Kelly). Travis Fimmel also stars.
The film’s synopsis reads: “Freddy (Baker) goes on the run with a bag full of cash after a robbery of his former crime boss goes wrong. With a potentially fatal wound, he slips onto a bus headed into the unrelenting California desert. After a call for help, Freddy’s estranged father (Bacon) betrays him, notifying the crime boss where he is. With his life slipping through his fingers, Freddy is left with very few choices to survive.”
Production is set to begin in February in Los Angeles and Tulsa. Ben Conway wrote the script.
That’s it for last three weeks. What castings mentioned are you interested in seeing the most onscreen? Tell us down in the comments!
