Film Casting: BOURNE IDENTITY Sequel, Jack Huston is BEN-HUR

Ben-Hur, a The Bourne Identity sequel, and other films have all made recent film casting, screenwriting, and director news. These films come from movie studios primarily based in the United States. The castings, screenwriters, and directors are subject to change.

Bleed For This

Katey Sagal has been set to star in Bleed For This. She will play Louise Pazienza, the mother of fighter Vinny Pazienza in the film directed and scripted by Ben Younger. She joins Whiplash star Miles Teller, who’ll play the former world champ known as the Pazmanian Devil, with Aaron Eckhart playing trainer Kevin Rooney, Amanda Clayton playing Doreen Pazienza, and Ciaran Hinds and Tom DeNucci also starring.

The Bourne Identity Sequel

Universal Pictures has begun making deals with Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass to reunite for their third film in The Bourne Identity series

 I’m told that the studio is so bullish on this that the intention is to make the reteam the next Bourne film to go into production to make the July 16, 2016, release slot that Universal had previously assigned to an untitled Bourne film. That means it would step in front of the spinoff sequel that is to reprise Jeremy Renner and be directed by Fast & Furious architect Justin Lin…Universal intends to continue that series and to broaden its franchise base, much the way that Marvel cranks out superhero films.

Ben-Hur

MGM and Paramount have found Ben-Hur. The studios are setting Jack Huston…with Timur Bekmambetov directing the epic remake in Europe next year. Huston joins Morgan Freeman

They’ve set a February 26, 2016, release date on the epic film, which has a script by Keith Clarke that John Ridley rewrote.

This version of Ben-Hur plays up the parallel storyline of Jesus Christ, but the main drama is the blood feud between Judah Ben-Hur and Messala

Brooklyn Bridge

Ben Kingsley and Short Term 12‘s Brie Larson are joining Daniel Radcliffe in Killer Films’ Brooklyn Bridge. The Douglas McGrath-helmed drama is inspired by the true story of Washington Roebling, the civil engineer responsible for overseeing the construction of the iconic NYC bridge. Kingsley will play Roebling’s father, the original designer whose passing leaves Washington in charge of the mammoth project. Larson will play Emily, his charming and shrewd wife. McGrath wrote and directed the project

That’s What I’m Talking About

Richard Linklater has tapped Step Up All In star Ryan Guzman for That’s What I’m Talking About, the baseball movie he’s assembling… Guzman has landed a lead role in the 1980s-set film about a college freshman who moves into a fraternity-like baseball house with his hard-partying teammates.

Skull Island

Legendary Pictures…set Jordan Vogt-Roberts to helm…and…Tom Hiddleston…to star in the Max Borenstein-scripted pic.

Paper Towns

Cara Delevingne is in talks to co-star with Nat Wolff in the adaptation of John Green’s “Paper Towns” for Fox 2000.

Jake Schreier will direct.

The story follows young neighbors who share the jarring experience of finding the body of a man who committed suicide. The two leads grow apart — until the night he finds her at his bedroom window, dressed like a ninja. She enlists him in a campaign to get revenge on the people who’ve hurt her. The next day, she vanishes and he is left to ponder the ramifications of the evening. Then he begins getting clues and follows them in an attempt to find her.

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (who also adapted Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars”) are writing the script.

The Nice Guys

Margaret Qualley…is in talks to join Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures’ “The Nice Guys.”

Shane Black is directing the crime drama

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Matt Smith…has joined the cast of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the adaptation of the Seth Grahame-Smith novel.

The movie is a horror-comedy spin on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The heroine, Liz Bennett (James), is pressured by her family to marry into a wealthy upper-class home and chafes at the stiff societal ways of 1800s England. Instead, she feels that she should help defend the countryside against the onslaught of a horrifying zombie plague.

Smith will play Mr. Collins, a parson who is on the lookout for a wife and proposes to Bennett.

The Beginners Guide to Snuff

The Butcher Brothers have cast their upcoming film The Beginners Guide to Snuff, setting Joey Kern (Workaholics), Luke Edwards (The Wizard), Bree Williamson (True Detective) and Brad Greenquist (Water for Elephants) to star.

The story centers on two actor brothers (Kern and Edwards) who are trying to make it in Hollywood, and decide to make a pretend snuff film to get ahead. In hopes of making it more realistic, they kidnap an actress (Williamson) so they can capture her terror on film. But they soon discover they have messed with the wrong woman. Greenquist will play the head of security at a theme park who has a dark edge to his work.

Cory Knauf, Adam Weis and Mitchell Altieri wrote the script for The Beginners Guide to Snuff.

Queen of Earth

Katherine Waterston…has nabbed the lead role opposite Elisabeth Moss in indie Queen of Earth.

Alex Ross Perry, who also worked with Moss on his previous film Listen Up Philip, is directing the psychological thriller, which centers on two friends who steal away to a beach house for a vacation. Although they grew up as best friends, they soon realize how disconnected from each other they have become, allowing their suspicions to bleed into reality.

Drinking Buddies director-writer-producer Joe Swanberg is producing Queen of Earth, which is currently shooting in New York.

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Source: Variety, Deadline, Hollywoodreporter