Film Nerd News #1 (2/1-2/8)

Welcome to the first edition of iGR’s weekly movie news article: Film Nerd News! In this article, I’ll go through some interesting movie news that happened during the week such as casting news and rumors, project developments and general movie news.

2/1 - Emily VanCamp = Captain America 2 Female Lead?

• People that know how days work noticed that 2/1-2/8 is actually more than a week but this story was too good not to include. Revenge star Emily VanCamp is going to be the female lead in the Captain America sequel, likely playing some sort of distant relative to Peggy Carter because apparently that’s just how Steve Rogers rolls.

2/4 - Renny Harlin to Direct Hercules 3D

• This is now the second Hercules film in development. The other has Brett Ratner at the helm with Dwayne “Okay you can call me The Rock again” Johnson attached to star. It’s also a bit weird since Harlin being given a fairly sizable budget for a guy known lately for directing that one other movie with a wrestling guy (John Cena) in it (12 Rounds). But hey, he directed Deep Blue Sea so we know he can direct a masterpiece too.

2/4 - Kristen Wiig Confirmed for Anchorman 2

• In duh casting news, we have confirmation that Kristen Wiig will have a role in the Anchorman sequel. This news would be a lot more awesome if it didn’t make so much sense. She just fits, so of course this casting had to happen.

2/5 - Chris Pratt to Lead Guardians of the Galaxy

• This news was a bit out of left field. Not only because Pratt is mostly known for being comedic relief, most notably on Parks & Recreation, but he also was not one of the million other actors that were reported as being considered for the role. It seemed like every actor in Hollywood was being considered for the role but Pratt was never mentioned until it was announced he got the part. I’m not familiar with the comics so I can’t comment how good the casting is but Pratt is usually great and I trust Marvel so I’m willing to see where they’re going with it.

2/5 - Sean Bean Joins Jupiter Ascending

• This is shaping up to be a pretty intriguing movie. The Wachowskis going back to sci-fi and Tatum and Kunis are huge stars right now so this could end up being a very big movie. Mixing in great actors like Sean Bean will definitely help. Here’s hoping Bean doesn’t end up be-headed.

2/5 - Michael Keaton Joins Need for Speed Adaptation

• Even though it’s obvious that the term adaptation should be applied loosely, this is shaping up to be an interesting movie that could rival the Fast & Furious franchise. Aaron Paul has become a star thanks to Breaking Bad and Dominic Cooper is one of the rising stars of Hollywood so this was already interesting but adding a veteran like Michael Keaton to the cast definitely makes it even more so.

2/5 - Paul Walker is Agent 47; Hitman Rebooted

• After the recent success of the newest Hitman title, it’s not exactly surprising that Fox is going to try and reboot the franchise. What is surprising though, is casting Paul Walker as the titular character. I wonder how much liberty they’re going to take with this reboot or if they’ll stick to the video games and am curious to see how far Walker will go for a part. Still, he’s not a great actor so this doesn’t seem like a very promising adaptation.

2/6 - Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen to Join Godzilla Reboot

• Thanks to Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston is pretty much in everything these days. Though you won’t hear me complaining because he is a tremendous actor. I’m not a huge fan of Godzilla but the cast is shaping up to be pretty interesting so I’ll probably check it out. Elizabeth Olsen is the one that family that got all the talent so it’s nice to see her getting bigger roles. Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) was already been cast as the lead.

2/7 - Ralph Fiennes, Mads Mikkelsen Join Adaptation of John LeCarre’s Our Kind of Traitor

• This is likely going to be a major awards contender similar to the last LeCarre adaptation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, especially with the cast that’s already been lined up. Fiennes and Mikkelsen are both fine actors and adding them around Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Revenge of the Clones) should mean we end up with a tremendous film.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Film Nerd News!