Lego Batman, Ghostbusters, It, and other films have 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.
It
Andy Muschietti is in talks to replace Cary Fukunaga on New Line’s two-part adaptation of Stephen King’s “It”
Will Poulter is no longer attached to star as Pennywise the Clown but he could return depending on his schedule, if he fits Muschietti’s vision for the character. New Line will soon hire a writer to tailor the project to that vision.
Fukunaga exited the project over Memorial Day weekend due to creative differences stemming from a reduction in budget
Lego Batman
Michael Cera is nearing a deal to voice Batman’s sidekick Robin in the studio’s animated movie “Lego Batman”
Chris McKay is directing the film, which will find Will Arnett returning to voice Batman, just as he did in “The Lego Movie.”
Seth Grahame-Smith…wrote the script.
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage
Cody Walker…has been cast in Mario Van Peebles’ “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage,” an history-based drama starring Nicolas Cage
Both crew and captain were stranded in the Philippine Sea for five days while attempting to deliver parts for the atomic bomb later dropped on Hiroshima.
Cody will play one of the brave men who suffered shark attacks and starvation on the mission.
The Crucifixion
Sophie Cookson is in negotiations to star in Xavier Gens’ supernatural thriller “The Crucifixion”
The film is based on the true story of a priest who was convicted of murdering a nun after performing an exorcism on her. Cookson will play a young journalist investigating the bizarre case.
Gens (“Hitman”) is directing “The Crucifixion”
Ghostbusters
Dan Aykroyd has joined the cast of Paul Feig’s female-led “Ghostbusters” movie [via a cameo]
Matt Walsh and Michael Kenneth Williams have signed on to Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters. Sources say that they will play agents respectively named Rourke and Hawkins who vie to quell the Ghostbusters when they get out of hand.
The Foreigner
Martin Campbell is in talks to direct the now untitled film that will star Jackie Chan…This is the one that had been called The Foreigner, based on the Stephen Leather novel The Chinaman. It will get a new title.
[Jackie Chan] will play a humble restaurant owner in London’s Chinatown who is forced to push his moral and physical boundaries to track down the group of rogue Irish terrorists responsible for the death of his beloved daughter after the justice system fails him. The book was adapted by David Marconi and Peter Buchman.
47 Meters Down
Santiago Segura…has Landed a supporting role in 47 Meters Down. The drama focuses on two sisters vacationing in Mexico. When the cable supporting their shark cage breaks, the pair find themselves trapped on the ocean floor, surrounded by a school of sharks. Segura will play Benjamin, one of the young locals who takes the girls out to sea. Starring Mandy Moore and Claire Holt, it’s directed by Johannes Roberts
Ripped
Russell Peters and Faison Love have teamed up to star in the stoner buddy comedy Ripped…Directed by Brad Epstein from a screenplay written by Epstein and Billiam Coronel, the film has also cast Alex Meneses
The Land
Rafi Gavron (Snitch) has joined the cast of The Land…Gavron will portray the character “Patty Cake,” the oldest and toughest of the group, described as a smooth talking ladies man who has already fathered a child, but is the most immature of the group. The film also stars Moises Arias, Michael K. Williams and Jorge Lendeborg.
Spider-Man
John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein are in early talks to pen the relaunch of Sony’s Spider-Man franchise.
The new story is due to be set in high school with John Hughes one of the watch words for the tone.
Brain On Fire
Carrie-Anne Moss and Richard Armitage are joining the cast of Gerard Barrett’s Brain On Fire opposite Chloe Grace Moretz.
Brain on Fire is currently in production in Vancouver and set for release in 2016. Moss (The Matrix) and Armitage (Captain America) will play Susannah’s parents, Tom Cahalan and Rhona Nack.
The Birth of A Nation
Chiké Okonkwo…has been cast in Nate Parker’s The Birth of A Nation.
Okonkwo plays a brutalized slave who becomes a freedom fighter and ally to Turner (Parker) during the rebellion. Prompted by religious visions, Turner and a band of about 70 slaves killed between 55 and 65 people in Virginia. The rebellion was stopped after two days, but Turner survived in hiding for more than two months.
Parker is producing and directing from his own script.
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