1.) Marvel has entered the casting stage with Guardians of the Galaxy, which I have to keep reminding myself has nothing to do with owls or the Easter Bunny. A shortlist has surfaced with the names of the actors auditioning for the part of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, the film’s head protagonist. That list includes Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty), Jack Huston (“Boardwalk Empire”), Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas), Lee Pace (Lincoln) and Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables). The studio is also said to be interested in Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), James Marsden (X-Men) and Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom).
In the comics, Quill leads a team of alien superheroes who protect the solar system from an evil alien race. They have also worked with The Avengers, so there’s plenty of crossover potential. And granted, I know nothing about the character, but does anyone else find it odd the ass-kicker from Warrior is up for the same role as that lowly star-struck production assistant from My Week With Marilyn? Nevertheless, director/co-writer James Gunn (Super) is prepping Guardians of the Galaxy for an August 2014 release. [Deadline]
2.) Argo producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov are reteaming with writer Chris Terrio on an untitled crime drama. Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) will direct with Clooney attached to star. Terrio’s original story is centered in the world of New York criminal syndicates, but further details are being held close to the vest. Greengrass’ next film will be the Somali pirate film Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks in the title role, which is scheduled for a fall 2013 release. He has also been prepping a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic called Memphis, but it’s unclear which project he might tackle first. [Variety]
3.) J. Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed) has entered negotiations with Fox to direct their adaptation of Wool. The studio picked up the property earlier this year and Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian came aboard as producers, though it’s unclear if Blakeson (who wrote Creed) is also looking to write the script. Hugh Howey‘s book Wool is a series of novelettes set in subterranean silos housing the remaining survivors on a postapocalyptic Earth. [Vulture]
4.) This was only a matter of time after Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were just confirmed to reprise their roles as Professor X and Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but Hugh Jackman is now in talks to bring Wolverine back to the new X-Men film as well. The report doesn’t speculate the type of role Wolverine might play in the film, but I can’t imagine it being much more than a supporting role or even another cameo like he had in First Class. [THR]
5.) Millennium is targeting James Franco to star in their adaptation of Marcus Sakey‘s crime novel Good People. The book follows a young couple that finds a stack of cash in their deceased neighbor’s apartment. Danish director Henrik Genz, who made the excellent noir-ish crime thriller Terribly Happy, is attached to direct with Kelly Masterson (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) penning the script. [The Wrap]
