Good guy Taye Diggs will get his vampire on in Dead of Night and other casting news.
Movies
Good guy Taye Diggs will get his vampire on in Dead of Night, an adaptation of the Italian comic book Dylan Dog. The Private Practice heartthrob will play the leader of a squad of vampires that’s infiltrated by an undercover private investigator, played by Superman himself, Brandon Routh. Kevin Munroe, who previously helmed the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, is directing the film, which is currently shooting in New Orleans.
If this is an April Fool’s Day gag, it’s coming a week early. Apparently, Sean Penn has agreed to star in the Farrelly Brothers’ long-stalled Three Stooges feature as Larry. Reports also claim that Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly, while Benicio Del Toro of all people is circling the part of Moe. Wow…I had not interest in seeing this movie before, but now I can’t wait for it to hit theaters. With a cast like that, it’s either going to be a masterpiece or a train wreck of epic proportions.
After wisely dropping out of the upcoming Footloose remake, High School Musical star Zac Efron is contemplating a lead role in The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud, which involves a graveyard worker who has weekly meetings with the ghost of his deceased younger brother. No word if Efron will be playing the ghost or the flesh and blood bro in this scenario.
Indian beauty Freida Pinto is finding herself in much demand. After landing a small role in Woody Allen’s next film, the Slumdog Millionaire actress has inked a deal to appear in artist Julian Schnabel’s new movie Miral, based on the true story of Hind Husseini, a Palestinian woman who established an orphanage in Jerusalem in 1948 following the creation of the state of Israel.
Click here to read about Freida’s role in Woody’s film
Click here to see GIANT’s exclusive video interview with Freida
Anne Hathaway watched Kate Winslet win the Best Actress Oscar this year for The Reader, but chances are she’ll be accepting her own statue in another two years now that she’s been tapped to play iconic singer/actress Judy Garland in the planned biopic, Get Happy. Not only is Garland a Hollywood legend, she also had a famously turbulent life, marked by alcohol and drug addictions. Unless another actress decides to play a morally conflicted Nazi the same year, the 2010 Oscar is Hathaway’s for the taking.
Click here to read GIANT’s reaction to this year’s Oscar ceremony
Five young Native American actors have been added to the cast of New Moon, the second installment in the Twilight franchise. Chaske Spencer, Bronson Pelletier, Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon and Tyson Houseman will appear opposite Taylor Lautner (who made his debut in the first film) as a wolf pack that protects vulnerable humans like Bella Swan (played again by Kristen Stewart) from big, bad vampires like Edward (Robert Pattinson).
Click here to read GIANT’s DVD review of Twilight
Perhaps still smarting over the mixed reception of Superman Returns (and Warner Brothers’ subsequent decision to take him off the next Superman movie), Bryan Singer may be planning a return to the world of comic books, acquiring the rights to the Radical Publishing title Freedom Formula: Ghost of the Wasteland, a futuristic series in which fighter pilots don special battle suits that let them do battle in the air.
After helping Dwayne Johnson score his fourth #1 box-office debut, Race to Witch Mountain, director Andy Fickman is eyeing an adaptation of a young adult novel called Gimme A Call, about a high school senior who drops her cell phone in a magical fountain and discovers that she’s now able to call her 14-year-old self.
Click here to read about Race to Witch Mountain‘s box-office success
Click here to see GIANT’s Dwayne Johnson photo gallery
TV
Better watch your back Jimmy Fallon! Comedian George Lopez is joining the late night scene, hosting an 11pm weekly chat show on TBS beginning this November. The still-untitled series will feature the standard mixture of comedy skits, musical acts and celebrity guests. Lopez’s rolodex apparently came in handy for the pilot episode that sold TBS on his show; he scored appearances by Eva Longoria Parker, Samuel L. Jackson and Dane Cook.
He may not be a real person, but animated toddler Stewie Griffin has a devoted following thanks to his star turn week in, week out on Family Guy. Those fans might follow him over to his just-announced cameo on FOX’s procedural Bones. In the episode, set to air on May 7, Stewie appears to offer some advice to FBI agent Booth (David Boreanaz) who has been asked by his partner Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to father her child.
After playing a fictional president in the box-office bomb American Dreamz, Dennis Quaid will get the chance to be an actual Commander in Chief when he suits up as Bill Clinton for the HBO movie The Special Relationship, which finds Michael Sheen reprising the part of Tony Blair, a role he previously played in The Queen and The Deal. Julianne Moore will also appear in the film as Hillary Clinton.
Two more actors rent out apartments on The CW’s revamped Melrose Place. All My Children actor Colin Egglesfield and The Sarah Connor Chronicles‘ Stephanie Jacobson (above) join Jessica Lucas and Ashley Simpson-Wentz on the primetime soap.
Click here to read more about Jessica Lucas on Melrose Place
