What is Casting Couch? It’s not a fishing program on public access. It’s a place on the Internet to go to hear about actors landing roles. Today we have the latest on The Rock’s upcoming schedule, as well as a new member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
If you weren’t already on board to see a movie where Bill Murray plays a creepy old man who teaches all of his wrong-headed ways to his 12-year-old neighbor, then there’s probably something wrong with you, but St. Vincent De Van Nuys hasn’t given up on you yet. It’s latest strategy to lure you in, which comes after casting Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd as Murray’s co-stars, is to sign up Naomi Watts in the role of a Russian prostitute who Murray’s character likes to keep company with. That sounds both ridiculous and sexy, which are basically the two best ways anything can be. [Deadline]
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf seems to be doing a lot of wheeling and dealing this week. Just yesterday we learned that he was negotiating to co-star with Robert De Niro in a movie called Spy’s Kid, and today Variety has word that he’s also in negotiations to star in David Ayer’s World War II picture, Fury. This is the one that stars Brad Pitt and that follows the crew of a Sherman tank behind enemy lines into Nazi Germany as the last days of the war develop around them. Variety’s report specifies that if LaBeouf ends up signing on to the film, he would be playing a member of the crew, which means Ayer still must be in the process of casting the tank.
Jacki Weaver
Everything’s better when you add a little Jacki Weaver. With that in mind, that Ryan Reynolds-starring thriller about a weirdo who talks to his pets called The Voices that already made itself sound a little more appealing by adding Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton now has to be considered something that’s actually worth looking forward to. This one comes from a script by Paranormal Activity’s Michael R. Perry, which doesn’t sound great, but keep in mind that it will be directed by Persepolis’ Marjane Satrapi, which definitely sounds a lot more promising. Look, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. And sometimes that bad is Ryan Reynolds. [THR]
Hayley Atwell
The last time we heard about Tom Hiddleston playing famous war photographer Robert Capa, it was said it was going to be in a biopic from Song For Marion director Paul Andrew Williams called Capa. Well, a new report from Screen Daily tells a slightly different story. Their report still says that Hiddleston is going to be playing Capa, and the film is still being directed by Paul Andrew Williams, but their version of the story has the film being called Close Enough, and their sources say that it will also feature Hayley Atwell as the equally famous, first female war photographer, Gerda Toro.
The film is said to be set during their time together in Paris in the mid-30s, against the backdrop of the end of the Spanish Civil War, which immediately takes it from being an interesting-sounding biopic and makes it into a really awesome-sounding romance that’s combining great actors with a great setting. Upgrade.
Dwayne Johnson
Were you worried that, given his dipping his toes back into the world of professional wrestling and his signing up to play Hercules in that new Brett Ratner film, Dwayne Johnson wasn’t going to have enough time in his busy schedule to keep making Fast & Furious movies past Fast & Furious 6? Well, worry no more, because in a huge interview with producer Neal Moritz about the future of the Fast franchise, Collider managed to get confirmation that Johnson will indeed have some sort of role to play in director James Wan’s Fast & Furious 7. This is great news, because everyone knows that Vin Diesel is always at his best when he’s nose to nose with another bulky dude and they’re sweating on each other, and The Rock might have more experience doing that than anybody else on the planet.
Ophelia Lovibond
So far, every time we’ve got a new piece of casting news regarding James Gunn’s upcoming Marvel Studios space epic, Guardians of the Galaxy, the actor’s name has been accompanied by which crazy space creature they were going to be portraying. This time, however, a new casting scoop from Heat Vision gives us an actress’ name, but it leaves what character she’s going to be playing up to our imagination. The actress in question is Ophelia Lovibond, an English lass whose big exposure in Hollywood so far has come from roles in things like No Strings Attached and Mr. Poppers Penguins. What do you think, comic book fans? Who could she be playing? Does the Marvel Universe include fetching-looking ladies with English accents all the way out in the deepest reaches of space?