Casting News
Joaquin Phoenix to Play Napoleon in New Ridley Scott Film Kitbag
After nailing his big role in Joker last year, Joaquin Phoenix is now preparing to portray a comparatively smaller character: Napoleon. The Oscar-winning actor has been cast as the 5’6″ French emperor in the new film from Ridley Scott, Kitbag. Kitbag is an “original and personal” feature film about Napoleon’s story — from his time as a military leader to his rapid ascent to Emperor of France — told through the lens of his volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine. According to Deadline, the goal of the movie is to “capture Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition, and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.” Scott, who previously worked with Phoenix on Gladiator, is onboard as director and producer. Joining him is screenwriter David ...
Spider-Man 3 Adds Jamie Foxx as Electro in Shocking Casting News: Update
In news that will truly shock Marvel fans, The Hollywood Reporter has it that Jamie Foxx is in final negotiations to reprise his The Amazing Spider-Man 2 role of Electro in the upcoming Spider-Man 3. Foxx portrayed the classic villain six years ago in the second and final movie featuring Andrew Garfield in Spidey’s webs. While the film was the ninth-highest-grossing release of 2014, its $709 million box office take remains the lowest of any Spider-Man movie to date, and it was generally panned by critics and fans alike. In fact, it was so poorly received that Sony abandoned plans for more sequels and a Sinister Six spinoff in favor of its now legendary deal with Marvel Studios bringing Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Infamously, Sony attempted to reclaim the web-head last summ...
Marvel Finds Its Ms. Marvel Lead in Newcomer Iman Vellani
Ms. Marvel (Marvel) and Iman Vellani (photo via TIFF) Marvel has found the latest hero to bear its name. Newcomer Iman Vellani has been cast as the title character in the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. Vellani is a complete unknown in Hollywood, with her only notable connection being her spot on the Toronto International Film Festival’s Next Wave Committee last year. As Deadline reports, Marvel was determined to find the perfect actress for the role, regardless of their usual A-list casting habits. After a long and thorough process, Vellani nabbed the coveted part. The plan is to have her debut in the Disney+ show before she transitions to the big screen. Ms. Marvel debuted in 2014 as Marvel’s first Muslim hero to headline their own comic series. The character is Kamala Khan, a Pakist...
Yara Shahidi Cast as Tinkerbell in Live-Action Peter Pan & Wendy
Clap if you believe in fairies: Yara Shahidi has been cast as Tinkerbell in the new live-action Disney remake Peter Pan & Wendy. Shahidi is best-known for playing Zoey Johnson on Black-ish and its spinoff, Grown-ish. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, she joins a cast that includes Jude Law as Captain Hook, Alexander Molony as Peter, and Ever Anderson as Wendy. The film is co-written and directed by David Lowery, who earned Disney’s trust for his work on Pete’s Dragon. It’s said to be based on the 1953 animated film, which is itself adapted from J.M. Barrie’s 1904 play. The House of Mouse is hoping Peter Pan & Wendy continues it’s recent run of live-action remakes. Last year, Aladdin and The Lion King proved that ...
Björk Joins All-Star Cast of Robert Eggers’ The Northman
Hold on to your swan dress, Björk is returning to the silver screen for the first time since 2000’s Dancer in the Dark. The Icelandic queen joins the star-studded cast of Robert Eggers‘ new film The Northman, and best of all, her character has been given the evocative name “The Slav Witch”. As if that weren’t enough, her real-life daughter Ísadóra Barney has also joined The Northman and will be making her cinematic debut. Until yesterday, the casting news was a closely-guarded secret, and it seems to have been revealed accidentally. Eric Higgins, best known for a short arc on the TV series Vikings, posted a video of the casting board that included his own headshot. “There are only two times in life when your profile pic is on a wall,” he wrote, “1) You’re a wanted criminal ...
The Russo Brothers Cast Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in The Gray Man for Netflix
Marvel Cinematic Universe directors The Russo Brothers are bringing their talents back to the real world. And they aren’t doing it cheaply: The Hollywood duo has teamed up with Netflix for the platform’s most expensive film, The Gray Man. What’s more, the brothers have brought on both Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans for the starring roles. As Deadline reports, Joe Russo will provide a script based on Mark Greaney’s 2009 novel of the same name. The Gray Man focuses on ex-CIA operative Court Gentry, a.k.a. “The Gray Man” (Gosling), and his efforts to elude capture by a former co-worker Lloyd Hansen (Evans). Netflix is providing the Avengers directors with a substantial production budget of approximately $200 million dollars (!). The company hopes that the action-packed Gray Man will s...
Timothy Olyphant Rumored to Be Playing Cobb Vanth in The Mandalorian Season 2
Last week, we learned that Timothy Olyphant had joined the cast of The Mandalorian Season 2. Now, Slash Film is reporting that Olyphant will be wearing Boba Fett’s armor, which, uh, doesn’t make a lot of sense, considering Temuera Morrison is playing Boba Fett. So what gives? The simple answer is that someone else had donned the bounty hunter’s protective garb before he wore it. And while that character’s identity hasn’t been confirmed, devoted Star Wars readers will already have someone in mind: Cobb Vanth, former slave, sheriff of the Tatooine city of Freetown, and one of the breakout minor players in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy of novels. There are a few clues pointing in Cobb Vanth’s direction. To start, the Aftermath books take place after the R...
