Movie News

Film Casting: NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, PASSENGERS, William Friedkin directing THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE

William Friedkin holding Hand Out

A Nightmare on Elm Street, Passengers, The Winter of Frankie Machine, 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.

Passengers

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Laurence Fisburne is on board for “Passengers” the Sony Pictures space romance that will unite megawatt stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt

Fishburne’s role is currently unknown.

Black Money

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen have signed on to adapt Ross Macdonald’s 1966 crime novel “Black Money” for Warner Bros. with an eye towards potentially directing the film

Hired by a spurned lover to expose the suave Frenchman who has run off with his client’s girlfriend, Archer follows a trail that leads to a deep conspiracy as the mysterious paramour is connected to a seven-year-old suicide and a ton of gambling debts.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Colin Farrell will join the cast of Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Farrell will play Graves, a wizard who meets Scamander in New York.

Charming

Avril Lavigne, Ashley Tisdale, and G.E.M. will join Demi Lovato in the upcoming animated musical comedy “Charming”

The three will play Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, respectively, while Lovato will play the female lead, Lenore.

Collateral Beauty

Will Smith is nearing a deal to star alongside Rooney Mara in the indie movie “Collateral Beauty,” which hails from “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

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Allan Loeb wrote the film, which will find Smith playing a New York ad executive who suffers a tragedy and finds his life slipping into a deep, dark depression.

Neighbors 2

“Neighbors” actress Carla Gallo has closed a deal to reprise her scene-stealing role as Paula, Rose Byrne’s wacky friend, in Universal and Good Universe’s comedy “Neighbors 2”

Nicholas Stoller is back in the director’s chair, working off a script he co-wrote with Andrew Jay Cohen, Brendan O’Brien, Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

The Happys

Amanda Bauer (“The Myth of the American Sleepover”) and Jack DePew (“The Fosters”) will star in the indie movie “The Happys,”

They join supporting cast members Janeane Garofalo (“Wet Hot American Summer”), Melissa McBride (“The Walking Dead”) and Rhys Ward (“The Returned”).

“The Happys” hails from first-time writers-directors Tom Gould and John Serpe

Bauer stars as Tracy, a sheltered young Midwestern woman whose life gets turned upside down when she catches her actor boyfriend, Mark (DePew), in bed with a man. She then moves to the Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles to discover her place in the world and where her true passions lie.

Melissa McBride will play Mark’s hard-charging talent manager, while Emmy nominee Janeane Garofalo will play Luann, a former child star who left the business, bought lots of property and has become the unofficial “mayor” of Los Feliz.

Sister Cities

Aimee Garcia…is joining Jacki Weaver and Alfred Molina in the indie drama, “Sister Cities”

The film…follows four estranged sisters who reunite after their mother’s alleged suicide. Garcia will play Sarah, the lesbian girlfriend of one of the sisters, named Austin (Jess Wexler). Weaver stars as the mother.

Co-stars include Amy Smart, Troian Belissario, Tom Everett Scott and Kathy Baker.

Sean Hanish is directing

SFv1

Kellan Lutz and Daniel MacPherson are…starring in SFv1, a new science fiction action film

Joining Lutz and MacPherson in the film are Temuera Morrison (the Star Wars prequel trilogy), Bren Foster (The Last Ship), Rachel Griffiths (Saving Mr Banks) and newcomer Teagan Croft…it’s written and directed by Shane Abbess

A Nightmare on Elm Street

New Line Cinema is moving forward with a remake/reboot of the iconic horror franchise NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.

Orphan scribe David Leslie Johnson has been tapped to script.

The Winter Of Frankie Machine

William Friedkin will develop to direct The Winter Of Frankie Machine, an adaptation of the 2007 Don Winslow bestselling novel …with a script that Winslow will either write or co-write.

Friedkin tells me he is eager to approach Frankie Machine similar to the way he did Killer Joe

Friedkin said he wants to make this down and dirty, on a low budget…Friedkin wants to do this for under $10 million.

The drama revolves around Frank Machianno, a mob hitman who has retired to run a bait shop. He agrees to help the son of a mob boss resolve a dispute with another Mafioso but is forced to turn into Frankie Machine again when he realizes he’s been set up to be killed.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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