Domhnall Gleeson Joins 'The Revenant'; Elle Fanning Leads Haifa al-Mansour's 'A Storm in the Stars'

 Domhnall Gleeson is lining up a damn good list of recent co-stars. He'll be seen later this year opposite Michael Fassbender, Scoot McNairy, and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the awesome music comedy, Frank. He's currently shooting Star Wars: Episode VII which stars everybody you loved as a kid plus Oscar Isaac and Lupita Nyong'o. And now he'll be teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy for The Revenant, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's upcoming revenge thriller. Co-starring Will Poulter, the film takes place in the 19th century and follows a frontiersman who seeks revenge on the men who left him for dead after being mauled by a bear. [Variety]

Wadjda director Haifa al-Mansour has cast Elle Fanning as author Mary Shelley in A Storm in the Stars. The film follows  "the tumultuous love affair between dangerously charismatic poet Percy Shelley and the brilliant and beautiful 18-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft." Filming is set for next year, but before then you can hear Fanning in Laika's The Boxtrolls this fall. [THR]

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'Wadjda' Director Haifaa Al Mansour to Helm Mary Shelley Romance 'A Storm in the Stars'

Haifaa Al Mansour's sweet and charming coming-of-age film Wadjda (it should've been Oscar-nominated, but whatever) was important for a number of reasons. Not only was it the first ever by a Saudi Arabian woman and the first to be filmed within the country, but the story of a young girl asserting herself in a male-dominated society has helped influence a small change in Arab culture. Al Mansour is a special new filmmaking voice, and now she's found her next project.

Al Mansour will direct A Storm in the Stars, a period romance penned by Emma Jensen. The fascinating premise  follows "the tumultuous love affair between dangerously charismatic poet Percy Shelley and the brilliant and beautiful 18-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft." The latter would become better known as Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley.

When we spoke to Al Mansour she had expressed a desire to continue working within Saudi Arabai for her next feature, which she hoped to pen herself. Looks like that isn't happening as A Storm in the Stars will likely shoot in Europe later this year. [Deadline]

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