The week in casting news.
Movies
Now that her boyfriend Zac Efron was made the transition from High School Musical pin-up to leading man, Vanessa Hudgens is attempting move beyond the franchise that made her a household name. The actress/singer/amateur underwear model, whose first post-HSM movie Bandslam arrives in theaters in August, just signed on to star in Beastly, a modern-day, New York City-set revamp of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. We’re assuming Hudgens is playing the beauty in this scenario, not the beast.
Marlon Wayans is going to find religion as the producer and star of The Year of Living Biblically, an adaptation of the book by New York journalist A.J. Jacobs, who spent a year living his life by the rules laid down in the Good Book. Since Jacobs is Jewish, does that mean we’ll be seeing Wayans rocking the side-curls and tefillin look?
Despite an almost total lack of interest from the general public, Marvel is still moving ahead with their planned Thor movie. (Seriously, is there anyone outside of the Comic Con crowd excited about this film? You’d have more success with a Moon Knight flick.) Kenneth Branagh is onboard to direct and rumors are flying that the studio is courting Natalie Portman to play the love interest of the yet-to-be-cast Norse God of Thunder. ‘Cause if there’s any gal a god would go to war over, it would be Queen Amidala.
Meanwhile, Iron Man 2—a Marvel Comics movie audiences actually want to see—announced two more additions to its ensemble, Kate Mara and Clark Gregg. Gregg will be back as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson, while Mara’s role isn’t being disclosed. Might she be an associate of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow? Or another Marvel superhero in training? Let the speculation begin!
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Terminator Salvation has been whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would take a break from his current day job to make a cameo in the fourth installment of the iconic sci-fi franchise. Thanks to beauty of CGI, The Governator of California will appear in the movie without having to leave his desk. Using Schwarzenegger’s original body-mold from the first Terminator, the film’s special effects team was able to create a digital version of his iconic T-800 that will be seen in at least one crucial scene in Salvation. This way, Schwarzenegger can act opposite Christian Bale without being subjected to one of his profanity-laden tirades.
Speaking of Christian Bale, the famous tempestuous actor has teamed up with Mark Wahlberg and Three Kings director David O. Russell for The Fighter, a biopic about former boxing champion “Irish” Micky Ward. Beantown native Wahlberg will play the Boston boxer, while Bale has been cast as his half-brother Dicky Eklund, a once-promising boxer turned criminal.
Some franchises just refuse to die—case in point, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are returning to the big-screen in live action form in 2011. Never mind that their last live-action venture—which sent them back in time to ancient Japan—never cracked $50 million and their 2007 animated flick didn’t do much better. Apparently, this new version will be a Batman Begins-style origin story that takes viewers back to the turtles’ roots, before they acquired a taste for ass-kicking and pizza. I’m just throwing this out there now—how about Megan Fox for April O’Neil and Channing Tatum as Casey Jones?
TV
VH1 keeps it classy with their newest reality show Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew on which the sex-specialist and Celebrity Rehab host helps treat people suffering from sex compulsion problems. Expect to see familiar faces from Rock of Love Bus and For the Love of Ray J and maybe a few actual celebrities—perhaps even admitted sex addict David Duchovny?
Following up last week’s report about former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich‘s possible appearance on NBC’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, it seems that the disgraced politician has been blocked from doing the show after District Court judge denied his request to alter his bail so that he could jet off to Costa Rica where the show is going to be filmed. Too bad—but that does mean he’s free to appear on the VH1 show of his choice.
With another season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians looking tenuous, E! is seeking to spin-off the show with a series that would follow Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian to Miami, where they go about trying to set up a business. Is that business selling more homemade porn tapes starring their far more famous—and attractive—sister Kim?
