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 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.
Mason Lee Is Bruce Lee in Ang Lee-Directed Biopic
Ang Lee is set to direct Bruce Lee, a biopic about the iconic martial artist, for Sony’s 3000 Pictures. Mason Lee, the filmmaker’s son, will star in the title role. Dan Futterman (Capote, Foxcatcher) is working on the most recent version of the script.
Lee has reportedly “been working quietly on this for a long time, and that includes getting his son ready for action. Mason Lee has been training for this role in Asia for the past three years, all through the lockdown.” | Source: Deadline
Disney+ Orders Witch Mountain Remake
Disney+ has given a formal pilot order to Witch Mountain, a reimagining of the popular Disney film franchise, with Bryce Dallas Howard, Isabel Gravitt, Levi Miller, Bianca “b” Norwood, and Jackson Kelly set to star.
The upcoming series is “a modern reinvention of the cult classic that takes place in the shadow of Witch Mountain, following two teens, Tia (Gravitt) and Ben (Miller) that develop strange abilities and discover their sleepy suburb may not be as idyllic as it seems.” Augustine Frizzell (Euphoria) will direct the pilot. | Source: Deadline
Ed Helms & Jennifer Garner Lead Family Leave
Ed Helms, Jennifer Garner, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon have boarded the Netflix body swap comedy Family Leave, inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s book, Bedtime for Mommy. McG will direct and produce the film.
Family Leave follows Jess (Garner) and Bill Walker (Helms), “who are doing their best to keep their family connected as their children grow older, more independent, and more distant. When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the family to wake up to a full body switch, on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, can the Walkers unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal and soccer tryout?” Myers and Noon will play Jess and Bill’s children, CC and Wyatt, respectively. | Source: Deadline
Cast for Mean Girls Musical Film Revealed
Angourie Rice (Spider-Man: Homecoming) will star as Cady Heron in Paramount+‘s upcoming Mean Girls film, which is based on the 2017 Broadway musical. Similar to the 2004 film, Mean Girls follows Cady as “her life is thrown into upheaval when her scientist parents move her from Africa to suburban Illinois. When she befriends popular girl clique, the Plastics, the hierarchy of high school social dynamics thrusts her into a world of backstabbing and betrayal.”
Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) will play Cady’s first friend at school, social outcast Janis, with Jaquel Spivey cast as “too gay to function” Damian. Reneé Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) will reprise her Broadway role as queen bee Regina George. Tina Fey wrote the screenplay for the movie musical, which will feature music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. are attached to direct. | Source: Entertainment Weekly
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck Are The Instigators
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are set to star in director Doug Liman’s The Instigators for Apple Original Films. Damon and Affleck will play “two thieves on the run with the help of one of their therapists after a robbery goes wrong.” The Instigators is based on a script by Chuck Maclean. | Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Wednesday Stars to Play Love Interests in Winter Spring Summer or Fall
Wednesday co-stars Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White will lead Winter Spring Summer or Fall, an upcoming romantic drama that is being directed by Tiffany Paulsen (in her feature debut). Dan Schoffer wrote the script with revisions by Paulsen. The film — described as Before Sunrise meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower — follows “two teens (Ortega and Hynes White) on the cusp of adulthood who meet and fall in love over four significant days of the year.” | Source: Deadline
Other Casting News
- Renata Vaca, Paulette Hernandez, Joshua Okamoto, and Octavio Hinojosa are the newest additions to the cast of Saw X. They are joined in the ensemble by the previously announced Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, and Michael Beach, with Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith also set to reprise their roles from previous Saw films. (Deadline)
- Catalina Sandino Moreno has boarded the John Wick spinoff Ballerina in a sizeable, yet undisclosed role. (Deadline)
- Mark Strong, Jade Anouka, and Chris Mason have joined the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood cast. The prequel series is set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit. (Deadline)
- Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy will star opposite Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, and Jeremy Allen White in Apple Original Films’ Fingernails. In Fingernails, “a test has been discovered that measures whether couples are truly in love, and institutes have opened to help couples succeed. Anna (Buckley) begins working at one of these institutes as an assistant to Amir (Ahmed), a mysterious and dedicated instructor.” (Deadline)
- Kate Dickie has been cast as an undisclosed villain in Season 2 of the Disney+ series Loki. (Deadline)
- Rosemarie DeWitt, Rob Benedict, and Elliot Knight have joined the Season 4 cast of Prime Video’s The Boys. DeWitt will play Hughie’s mom opposite returning series star Simon Pegg who plays Hughie’s dad. (Deadline)
- Reese Witherspoon will reprise her role from Election in the upcoming Paramount+ sequel, Tracy Flick Can’t Win. (Deadline)
That’s it for the last few weeks of 2022. What projects mentioned are you interested in seeing once completed? Tell us in the comments!