Film Casting: LEATHERFACE, Paul Giamatti in STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

Leatherface, Straight Outta Compton, 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.

Michael

Avan Jogia has landed a role in Michael opposite James Franco for director Justin Kelly and executive producer Gus Van Sant… Jogia will play Will, a young man Michael (Franco) meets and falls for along his journey.

The Ticket

Oliver Platt (FX’s Fargo) has snagged a role in The Ticket opposite Downton Abbey‘s Dan Stevens, Malin Akerman and Kerry Bishé. Ido Fluk wrote and is directing the film, now underway in upstate New York. Stevens stars as James, a blind man who regains his sight only to be blinded by his obsession with the superficial. Platt will play his blind best friend and colleague Bob, who finds their relationship strained when James’ vision returns.

Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton has added Carra Patterson (Why Did I Get Married Too?) to its line up of historic hip hop figures. She’ll play Tomica Woods, the girlfriend to group co-founder Eazy-E AKA Eric Wright (Jason Mitchell). Woods went on to marry Eazy-E on the eve of his death at the age of 31 and then inherited the Ruthless Records rap label he’d founded with manager Jerry Heller.

Paul Giamatti has closed a deal to star in Straight Outta Compton

The actor will play Jerry Heller, manager of the pioneering rap group N.W.A.

Heller was already a major figure in the music scene before working with N.W.A. He represented acts ranging form Journey to ELO to REO Speedwagon and  helped Pink Floyd and Elton John in their early American tours. He cemented his musical legacy when he co-founded the label Ruthless Records with Eazy-E. Heller signed and managed N.W.A. and oversaw their rise. However, when the band broke up with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s departures, Heller was fingered by some as being a Yoko Ono figure and the cause of the group’s disbandment for mishandling monies.

Sea of Trees

Katie Aselton…is joining Gus Van Sant’s drama Sea of Trees.

Matthew McConaughey and Ken Watanabe are starring in the indie, which tells of an American man (McConaughey) and a Japanese man (Watanabe) who meet in Japan’s infamous “Suicide Forest,” where people go to commit suicide. But instead of killing themselves, the duo embark on a reflective journey through the forest together.

Asleton will play a woman who has an affair with McConaughey’s character.

Naomi Watts is already cast as McConaughey’s wife in the Chris Sparling-written project.

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Geostorm

Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris and Andy Garcia are in negotiations to join Gerard Butler in Geostorm, the sci-fi adventure feature to be directed by Dean Devlin.

The story centers on a stubborn but charming satellite designer (Butler) who, when the world’s climate-controlling satellites malfunction, has to work together with his estranged brother (Sturgess) to save the world from a man-made storm of epic proportions. As the designer heads into space, the brother discovers a plot to assassinate the president.

Cornish will play Sturgess’ girlfriend, a Secret Service agent. Harris will play the secretary of state with Garcia taking the Oval Office as the president.

The script was originally written by Devlin and was also worked on by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.

Leatherface

Seth M. Sherwood will write the origin story of Leatherface with Texas Chainsaw 3D producer Carl Mazzocone back in the same capacity.

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Source: Firstshowing, Deadline, Hollywoodreporter