Welcome to The Backroom Edition – Each week we’ll give you an insider’s look at some of the big casting news and rumors around the entertainment industry. Let’s get started!
Steven Soderbergh, fresh off directing a play in Sydney (where it is rumored he also shot a quickie movie), is busy lining up actors for his next trip behind the camera, Knockout. When the film was first announced in September, Soderbergh’s decision to cast Gina Carano as the lead was met with some consternation in the blogosphere. The American Mixed Martial Arts champion is a non-pro when it comes to acting but then again Soderbergh is no stranger to working with novices, as he recently did in The Girlfriend Experience. There’s been little news on the picture since the September announcement but this week The Playlist reported on additional casting which includes Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas and Michael Fassbender. Soderbergh worked with Douglas and Quaid before in Traffic and is also teaming with Douglas for the Liberace biopic that co-stars Matt Damon (another Soderbergh regular). This is the first teaming for McGregor and Soderbergh while Fassbender’s star is on the rise following Inglourious Basterds (MovieLine first reported Fassbender’s casting). Meanwhile, the script has gone through a re-thinking and is now more of a revenge action-spy thriller, according to Playlist, as opposed to a redemption action-spy thriller…
Taylor Lautner was crowned the highest-paid teen in Hollywood this week by Deadline.com which said the actor is now “being paid by ab” – if he has 7.5 abs and if each of them is worth $1 million. Eh, why quibble. Anyway, $7.5 million is apparently what the paycheck will read for his next project, Northern Lights. Deadline reported that the film, directed by John Moore has a start date of April 1st. That may be where a slight April fool comes in. The Website initially reported that Tom Cruise was also to star in the film but Entertainment Weekly then refuted that claim saying the production company, Skydance, said Crusie was not attached to the project. In any case, Skydance told EW the official logline on the film goes like this: “Set against the backdrop of extreme flying, ‘Northern Lights’ follows four young pilots as they compete against the world’s best. A story of teamwork, sacrifice, loss, and victory, these young aviators push themselves to physical and emotional limits in the unforgiving world of performance aerobatics.” In other Tom Cruise news, an upcoming project to which he and Ben Stiller are attached, “The Hardy Men” is going through a lengthy development process because the producer, Shawn Levy, says “Developing a movie for a movie star is hard. Developing a movie for two movie stars is a very, very challenging enterprise.” Stiller and an unrecognizable Cruise both appeared in Tropic Thunder.
Moving right along from the Hardy boys, er, “Men,” the gestating Three Stooges film may be picking up a bit of steam once again since Sean Penn backed out of playing Larry in order to focus on his family issues (the actor has been involved in a divorce from wife Robin Wright Penn). Director Bobby Farrelly told The Boston Herald this week, “We got him back. He always said he wanted to do it after, you know, taking care of his family.” However, the Stooges won’t be nyuk-ing it up any time soon as Bobby and brother Peter turned their attention to another film, Hall Pass, when the Penn back-out derailed the Stooges project last year. Hall Pass will start shooting with Owen Wilson next month. Meanwhile, Benicio Del Toro is said to still be interested in playing Moe in a Stooges film but Curly still needs to be cast. Once upon a time it looked like Jim Carrey was in, but Bobby Farrelly claimed otherwise to the Herald.
