'The Gambler' Adds John Goodman; William Hurt is a 'Midnight Rider'; Olivia Thirlby in 'The White Orchid'

 
* John Goodman has been busy of late, as he can currently be seen in Inside Llewyn Davis, and will soon be a part of George Clooney's Monuments Men. The sought-after actor never stays idle for long, and has now joined Mark Wahlberg, Brie Larson, and Jessica Lange in a remake of The Gambler. Directed by Rupert Wyatt, the original 1974 film centered on an English professor who gets into gambling debt with the mob, but can't kick the habit because of the thrill gambling provides. The Gambler is expected to open in 2015. [TheWrap]

* CBGB director Randall Miller is moving on to another music biopic, only this one centers on the Allman Brothers. He's directing Midnight Rider, and coming aboard to play the older version of Gregg Allman is William Hurt. Tyson Ritter of All-American Rejects fame is playing the younger version, and the story will have the older Gregg looking back on his career as he attempts to get clean. [THR]

* It's a shame we haven't really seen much of Olivia Thirlby since Dredd, but hopefully that's about to change. She'll star in The White Orchid, a noir thriller from writer/director Steve Anderson that co-stars Jennifer Beals, Nichelle Nichols (the original Uhura from Star Trek!), Brendan Sexton, and John Carroll Lynch. Thirlby will play a social services investigator helping to track down the murderer of a blonde woman known as The White Orchid. [THR]