After posting a batch of links late yesterday evening I was left empty until now as enough stories warranted another update. This time we have more casting info on Danny Boyle’s next film, new thrillers from James Wan and Takashi Shimizu, Man of Steel casting, big budgets and continued Terminator talk. Oh yeah, it’s a genre-filled update. Dig in…
James McAvoy is in early discussions for the role of Simon in director Danny Boyle’s Trance for Fox Searchlight. The film is a heist thriller centering on a gang of thieves hired by an auction house employee to steal a painting. Simon is the leader of the gang. McAvoy will be replacing Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) who was up for the role when it was first announced. The film is expected to hit theaters in 2013. [Variety]
Green Lantern made a bunch of news when it was reported the film had a $300 million budget ($200 million for production and $100 million for worldwide marketing). Well, I wonder what people will make of the now reported $215 million production budget for Will Smith’s Men in Black III. Get the full details at the link. [The Wrap]
Talks of Terminator 5 are creeping up again as the complicated Halcyon Holding Group bankruptcy case has quietly been resolved, with creditors due to receive $14 million in expected distributions. Prospects for another Terminator now rest with Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Films, which closed a deal a month ago during the Cannes Film Festival for rights to make two Terminator films. Recently Fast Five helmer Justin Lin was said to be in line to direct the fifth feature, then Arnold Schwarzenegger put a quick kink in those works. [Variety]
Julia Ormond (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) is in talks to play Superman’s Kryptonian mother, Lara Lor-Van, in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. She would be playing opposite Russell Crowe who was recently cast as Superman’s father, Jor-El. [Deadline]
James Wan (Insidious) is in final negotiations to direct The Conjuring for New Line. The film is said to be inspired by the true-life story of the Perron family, who claimed they “lived among the dead” in the 1970s as spirits both friendly and sinister inhabited their Rhode Island farmhouse. [Variety]
The Grudge and Ju On helmer, Takashi Shimizu, is set to direct the claustrophobic thriller Flight 75 for CBS Films. The story is set on a transpacific airliner where the passengers encounter what seems to be a supernatural force. There is still no word on whether snakes or Jodie Foster searching for her missing child will be involved. [Variety]
