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.
Two More Join The Fabelmans
Sam Rechner (Ruby’s Choice) and Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) are the latest actors to join The Fabelmans, the upcoming film loosely based on director Steven Spielberg’s childhood growing up as a movie-loving kid in Arizona.
Rechner will play a high school classmate of Gabriel LaBelle’s character, a young, aspiring filmmaker. Butters will play the LaBelle’s sister. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen and Paul Dano.
Jaimie Alexander Joins Red Sonja
ComicBook.com noticed that actress Jaimie Alexander (Thor) shared an image in her Instagram stories of the script for Millennium’s upcoming Red Sonja movie. No one has officially confirmed her involvement. However, it would be pretty weird to post an image of the film’s script if Alexander has not signed on for a role in the film.
Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) is set to play the titular role. The script for the new Red Sonja film was co-written by Tasha Huo and Joey Soloway.
Jack Black and Ice Cube to Star in Comedy
Jack Black is in talks to star alongside Ice Cube in an upcoming Sony comedy film entitled Oh Hell No. The Hollywood Reporter states that the story follows “the relationship of Sherman (Black) and Will (Cube) after Sherman falls in love with Will’s mom.” Yikes.
Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip) is set to direct while the script comes from writers Scot Armstrong (Old School), Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Jessica Gao (She-Hulk), and Rodney Rothman (Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse). The film is currently slated to hit theaters on June 17, 2022.
Jonathan Majors in Talks for Creed III
Deadline reports that MGM and actor-director Michael B. Jordan want Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) to fight Apollo Creed in Creed III.
Negotiations are underway currently underway. Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad are also slated to return for the third installment of the Rocky franchise spinoff, but Sylvester Stallone will not be back. The script is written by Zach Baylin and Keenan Coogler.
Jameela Jamil Joins She-Hulk as Villain
Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) has boarded the cast of She-Hulk in a major role, according to Variety. Jamil will play “Titania, a Marvel supervillain with incredible strength and a frequent rival of She-Hulk.”
In the comics, Titania is the alter ego of Mary MacPheran, who was a short, unpopular, and embittered girl in high school before eventually coming in contact with Doctor Doom and receiving superpowers.
Lance Reddick Leads Resident Evil Live-Action Series
Netflix has revealed the cast for the live-action series adaptation of Resident Evil. The official Twitter account for Netflix Geeked revealed that the cast for the series includes Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, Siena Agudong, Adeline Rudolph, Paola Núñez, and Lance Reddick as the iconic villain Albert Wesker.
The project is said to be set across two different timelines, “the first of which sees Jade and Billie Wesker moving to New Raccoon City and becoming skeptical of their father’s secrets while the second is set a decade in the future after the release of the T-virus.”
Indiana Jones 5 Set Photos Reveal Toby Jones
Set photos from Indiana Jones 5 have shown that Toby Jones is now part of the cast. The photots show Jones acting alongside Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Ford has dots over his face hinting that the fifth instalment in the action-adventure franchise will feature flashbacks with a digitally de-aged Ford.
No word yet on who Jones might play. The fifth entry in the Indiana Jones series hits theaters July 29, 2022.
Harry Melling Joins The Pale Blue Eye
Deadline reports that Harry Melling (Harry Potter franchise) is set to play a young Edgar Allan Poe in the Netflix and Scott Cooper murder mystery The Pale Blue Eye. Cooper will direct and adapt the screenplay from Louis Bayard’s novel of the same name.
The film also stars Christian Bale as a veteran detective tasked with solving a series of murders that took place in 1830 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Bale’s detective partners with a detail-oriented young cadet (Melling), who will later become the world famous author the world knows today.
DC Announces Voice Cast for League of Super-Pets
Because Warner Bros. and DC Films don’t know how to please fans (nor does it seem that they want to), they are releasing an animated film entitled DC League of Super-Pets, which will give spotlight to the superpowered pets of Superman, Batman, and other DC Comics heroes.
Now the film has a voice cast and it’s pretty predictable. Dwayne Johnson will voice Krypto the Super Dog while Kevin Hart will voice for Ace the Bat-Hound. The rest of the cast includes Keanu Reeves, Kate McKinnon, Vanessa Bayer, John Krasinski, Diego Luna, and Natasha Lyonne.
Mike Myers to Play Seven Characters in The Pentaverate
Mike Myers (Austin Powers) is set to play seven different characters in the Netflix series The Pentaverate.
The six-episode comedy series will ask: “What if a secret society of five men has been working to influence world events for the greater good since the Black Plague of 1347?” The series will follow “one unlikely Canadian journalist who finds himself embroiled in a mission to uncover that truth — and just possibly save the world himself along the way.”
In addition to Myers, the cast also includes Ken Jeong (Community), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), Debi Mazar (Younger), Richard McCabe (Wallander), Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous), and Lydia West (It’s a Sin).
Christina Ricci Cast in The Matrix 4
The Matrix 4 has cast Christina Ricci (The Addams Family) in an undisclosed role. Collider noticed that Warner Bros. had quietly added her name to the film’s official cast list. The information comes from a press kit for the film in which Ricci’s name has been included among the cast. No details about her character or the size of the role were made available.
Taylor Swift Joins New David O. Russell Movie
Taylor Swift (The Giver) has boarded the new David O. Russell movie. The acclaimed singer-songwriter joins a cast that includes Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Zoe Saldana, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Robert De Niro, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alessandro Nivola.
There’s no word on who she is playing, but that makes sense because we have no clue what this film will be about. This will be Russell’s first movie since the 2015 Jennifer Lawrence film Joy.
Samara Weaving Joins Babylon
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) has joined the 1920s Hollywood drama Babylon, set to be directed by Damien Chazelle. Weaving joins a cast that includes Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Katherine Waterston.
Other new additions to the cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter, include Max Minghella, Lukas Haas, Flea, Rory Scovel, Eric Roberts, P.J. Byrne, and Damon Gupton. Minghella is playing Irving Thalberg, a producer who was MGM’s head of production in the 1920s and 1930s. No word on who anyone else is playing.
Babylon begins production this month in Los Angeles under Paramount Pictures. The film is set in the late 1920s “during the movie industry’s transition from silent films to talkies” and has been described as “The Great Gatsby on steroids.” The film will have a limited release on December 25, 2022, before going wide January 6, 2023.
Ryan Kiera Armstrong is the Firestarter
Ryan Kiera Armstrong (The Tomorrow War) has joined the cast of the upcoming Firestarter reboot Blumhouse. She will play Charlie McGee, the titular firestarter. Zac Efron will play Charlie’s father, and Michael Greyeyes plays the villainous John Rainbird. Keith Thomas (The Vigil) is directing from a script by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills, Rectify).
In the film, “a young girl develops pyrokinetic abilities and is abducted by a secret government agency that wants to harness her powerful gift as a weapon.” Firestarter is based on the novel by Stephen King. It was previously adapted to film in 1984 and starred Drew Barrymore.
Issa Rae to Voice Spider-Woman
Issa Rae has joined the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel cast as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman. Rae is the first new cast member to be announced for the sequel, which will bring back Shameik Moore as Miles Morales and Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacey.
Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson are directing the film, with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returning to produce and contribute to the script. The animated sequel hits theaters on October 7, 2022.
Kaley Cuoco, Pete Davidson to Meet Cute
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) and Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live) are currently in negotiations to star as Sheila and Gary in Meet Cute.
The upcoming romantic-comedy will follow “a young couple who somehow gain the ability to go back in time and heal their past traumas and problems, presenting them with the opportunity to turn each other into the perfect partner for life.” Alex Lehmann (Blue Jay) is on board to direct. The script was written by Noga Pnueli.
Rachel Zegler is Snow White
Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) knows how to leave an impression. The actress has just been cast as Snow White in Disney‘s upcoming live-action remake of its first animated classic.
Zegler reportedly beat out several other actresses vying for the role, including “a recent Oscar winner with singing talents” as well as actor-singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series). Apparently, Zegler’s audition left an impression on director Marc Webb.
Ari Aster Grows Disappointment Blvd. Cast
Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, and Kylie Rogers have joined the cast of Ari Aster and A24’s Disappointment Blvd., starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Aster will write and direct the project that is being kept under wraps. However, the plot is described as “an intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.”
Bryan Cranston & Annette Bening Go Large
Paramount+ has just announced Jerry and Marge Go Large, an original film set to star Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening. The film will be directed by David Frankel with principal production starting this July in Georgia.
The film is based on “the true story of how retiree Jerry Selbee, who discovers a mathematical loophole in the Massachusetts lottery and — with the help of his wife, Marge — wins $27 million dollars and uses the money to revive their small Michigan town.”
That’s it for last few weeks. What castings mentioned are you interested in seeing the most onscreen? Tell us down in the comments!
