Will Ferrell Eyes 'Overnight'; Kevin Bacon Joins 'Black Mass'; Jena Malone is 'Claire'

* Lost in last night's report on Steve Pink coming aboard to direct Disney's family film, Overnight, was the possibility of Will Ferrell taking the lead role. Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Productions is producing the film as a potential starring vehicle in the story of an absent-minded father and his son in a toy store overnight until it's ransacked by thieves. It's described as "Home Alone in a toy store" for a reason. [Variety]

* Kevin Bacon is keeping plenty busy while on break from The Following (please cancel it), and part of that time will be spent on the set of Black Mass, the Johnny Depp-starring biopic on Irish mobster Whitey Bulger. Bacon will play Charles McGuire, the FBI special agent running the Boston Field Office. Filming is underway now and we should see it in theaters next year. [Deadline]

* Between touring with her band The Shoe and filming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Jena Malone probably doesn't have a ton of time. But that isn't going to stop her from starring in Claire, a remake of Eric Rohmer's 1982 French film, Le Beau Mariage.  Directed by music video helmer Dori Oskowitz, the film centers on "an eccentric young woman in her 20s living in Long Island with her aunt and teenage cousin. Fed up with her married painter lover, Claire sets her sights on a man she barely knows with aims to get herself married."  Malone will be seen this fall as part of Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice.

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Benedict Cumberbatch and Adam Scott Join 'Black Mass'; Guy Pearce Exits

The Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass has had a turbulent path to where it is now. Johnny Depp has long been attached to the film about the infamous Boston mobster, but he bailed at one point over a contract dispute only to return later. Tom Hardy was set to co-star and he split, and so did original director Barry Levinson, only to be replaced by Joel Edgerton and Scott Cooper. So when one goes out, someone else ably steps in to fill the void, and now with Guy Pearce leaving the film a replacement has been found in Benedict Cumberbatch.

Pearce has been forced to exit Black Mass due to scheduling conflicts, but its doubtful producers are upset with Cumberbatch coming aboard. And along with him is Adam Scott in the role of FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick. Depp will play Bulger with Cumberbatch as his law abiding brother, Billy Bulger. Edgerton is the disgraced FBI agent and childhood friend of Bulger's who helps him escape the law and go on the run for years.

Also starring Dakota Johnson, Jesse Plemons, and Juno Temple, Black Mass is in production now. [THR/BostonGlobe]

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Gabriel Basso Finds 'The Whole Truth'; Juno Temple Joins 'Black Mass'; 'Southpaw' Adds Forest Whitaker

* The Kings of Summer's Gabriel Basso has taken a lead role in The Whole Truth, a courtroom drama starring Daniel Craig, Renee Zellwegger, and possibly Lupita Nyong'o. Courtney Hunt is directing the Nicholas Kazan script about a defense attorney trying to get his teenaged client (Basso) acquitted of murdering his wealthy father. [Deadline]

* Juno Temple and rising star Jesse Plemons (The Master) have joined Johnny Depp in Black Mass, the Whitey Bulger biopic directed by Scott Cooper. Depp plays the infamous Boston gangster who, with the help of a childhood friend and federal agent played by Joel Edgerton, escaped the feds and went on the run for 16 years, ranking at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List. Temple will play a prostitute while Plemons is on board as a member of Bulger's inner circle.

* Now that Antoine Fuqua and Jake Gyllenhaal have finally got the boxing drama Southpaw headed to the ring, it's time to fill out the supporting cast. Lacing up the gloves will be Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, playing Titus "Tick" Willis, a former pro forced to retire after losing an eye, and quit training fighters after his son was killed. Gyllenhaal stars as a left-handed boxer who wins the title early, but suffers a tragedy and loses everything. Now he must fight to regain what was lost, including the love of his daughter.

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Dakota Johnson Joins 'Black Mass'; Jeremy Irons and Jonathan Rhys Meyers Find 'The Secret Scripture'

* By this time next year Dakota Johnson could be a huge star for playing Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey. And we've seen a number of producers jumping on the bandwagon early by casting her in their upcoming films. Johnson has joined Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, and Guy Pearce in Black Mass. The Whitey Bulger biopic is directed by Scott Cooper and centers on the infamous Boston mobster and FBI informant who was a fugitive from justice for more than a decade. Johnson will play Bulger's girlfriend, Lindsay, the mother of his 6-year-old son. Johnson can be seen in theaters now in Need for Speed. [Deadline]

* Jeremy Irons and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are joining an adaptation of The Secret Scripture, which already has Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave starring. Johnny Ferguson is adapting Sebastian Barry's award-winning novel which follows two contradictory narratives in order to uncover the truth about a 100-year-old mental patient. Meyers has been keeping busy on NBC's Dracula, while Irons recently agreed to play Alfred Pennyworth in Man of Steel 2. [The Independent]

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Famke Janssen Back for 'Taken 3'; Guy Pearce Boards 'Black Mass'; Adeel Akhtar is Smee in 'Pan'

* For a movie that promises nobody will be taken, everybody who was taken before seems to be returning. Famke Janssen has agreed to come back for Taken 3, joining Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace as members of Mills clan. It's always been kind of weird seeing Janssen, who traditionally has played very tough, strong women characters relegated to such a helpless role, but maybe she'll get a chance to show a little more this time. Eh, doubtful. Taken 3 will again be directed by Olivier Megaton.

* Guy Pearce has joined Black Mass, the Whitey Bulger biopic fronted by Johnny Depp and co-starring Joel Edgerton. Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace) is directing the film which centers on Bulger, the Boston mobster and FBI informant who used his dual position to gain power in the criminal ranks. With the help of his childhood friends, who happened to be FBI agents, he escaped arrest and went on the run until his capture in 2011. Pearce will play one of Bulger's two brothers. [Variety]

* Finally, a little bit of that international flavor Joe Wright promised for his Peter Pan origin story, Pan. Adeel Akhtar (Four Lions) has been cast as Smee, the right hand-man to Garrett Hedlund's Captain Hook. They join Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard and Rooney Mara as the Native American princess, Tiger Lily. Pan is set to open July 17th 2015. [TheWrap]

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Joel Edgerton Rejoins Johnny Depp's 'Black Mass' as Warner Bros. Comes Aboard

Johnny Depp has had an on/off attachment to the Whitey Bulger biopic, Black Mass, for quite awhile now, but the film has only had momentum while he was on board. When salary concerns led him to drop out, the project stagnated, lost director Barry Levinson, and didn't resurface until Depp came back. And now the the film has just taken its most significant step forward with Warner Bros. coming aboard to co-finance and distribute.

Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) remains on board as director, and it looks as if the prior reports of Tom Hardy taking the co-lead have proven untrue. Instead it will be Joel Edgerton taking on the role of Bulger's friend and FBI agent, John Connolly, who tipped off the infamous Boston mobster. Edgerton returns after being set for the part back when Levinson was still involved, but departed the film when it started falling apart.

The unfortunate victim of this deal is the Bulger biopic Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were developing for themselves. Warner Bros. has ended their association with the film, which would have had Damon in a starring role and Affleck possibly directing, with a script just turned in by The Wolf of Wall Street's Terence Winter. They were given a couple of days warning about the impending move, but don't be surprised if Warner Bros. seeks to soothe their golden boy Affleck in the next few days. Nobody wants to piss off Batman, do they? [Deadline]

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Johnny Depp Confirmed for Whitey Bulger Biopic, 'Black Mass' with Tom Hardy Co-Starring

For awhile it was beginning to look like Johnny Depp's Whitey Bulger biopic, Black Mass, was going to stay in development limbo. Originally with Barry Levinson directing, and Depp as the infamous Boston mobster and Joel Edgerton co-starring, the film was shelved over salary disputes. But just last month the film resurfaced with Depp eying a return and Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) in the director's chair, and now the project is definitely back on.

Deadline reports that Depp is back in to play Bulger, while Tom Hardy is in talks to take on the role Edgerton left behind. Mark Mallouk adapted Dick Lehr and Gerald O'Neill's best-selling book, Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between The FBI and The Irish Mob, chronicling Bulger's rise to power as one of the Winter Hill Gang, with murder, racketeering, and extortion part of his extensive list of offenses. Hardy will play FBI agent John Connolly, Bulger's childhood friend who was tasked with bringing down the Italian mob. Bulger helped in bringing them down, but when he was about to be prosecuted it was Connolly who tipped him off. Bulger spent 16 years on the run before he was apprehended in 2011.

Now that all the pieces are in place production will be fast-tracked for a May start.

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Johnny Depp Likely Won't Be 'Doctor Strange'; May Return for Scott Cooper-Directed 'Black Mass'

So all of that excitement over Johnny Depp as Doctor Strange may have been for nothing. As is so often the case with major casting rumors involving A-listers like Depp, the story wasn't quite what it appeared to be. Depp had apparently met with Marvel over the lead role in the expected film, but Deadline now says that meeting was awhile ago and "never went anywhere". THR adds that an entirely new script is being drafted, as well, so this may still be quite a ways off. That will leave plenty of room for Depp to return for Alice in Wonderland 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean 5, which Disney would probably rather have him ready for.

But Depp's got other non-franchise projects he could fall back on, like the Whitey Bulger biopic, Black Mass. You'll recall that the Barry Levinson-directed film had already attracted Depp and co-star Joel Edgerton before getting shelved due to a salary dispute. Levinson is definitely out, but now Out of the Furnace director Scott Cooper is stepping in. He'll also rewrite the script which centers on the infamous mobster who was on the run for decades before being captured in 2011. With Cooper on board, Depp is apparently interested in playing Bulger again and has begun talks to iron out the money situation.

Lots of options on the table for Depp but it looks like joining the Marvel Universe isn't going to be one of them.

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Johnny Depp Could Return for 'Black Mass', But It's Unlikely

With Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and an Alice in Wonderland sequel both moving forward in rapid-fire succession, Johnny Depp's decision last week to depart  Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass made a lot of sense. There was more to it, though, as Depp had been asked to take a pay cut from his usual $20M (*gasp* How will he get by??) salary. While Depp does indeed appear to be gone from the project, a few more details have emerged as producers and financiers scramble to find a way to get him back.

A lengthy story at THR can be simplified this way: Depp was due to make his standard $20M fee, but that was only if the budget managed to stay at $50M or less. When it ballooned to $63M, Depp, co-star Joel Edgerton, and director Barry Levinson were asked to reduce their usual asking price. Whether or not the other two agreed isn't clear, but it's obvious that Depp and his partners at Cross Creek Pictures refused.

Reps on both sides of the issue paint vastly different pictures of the situation, as one might expect, but the point is that this version of Black Mass is "dead", and Tom Cruise has been approached about replacing Depp. But what they really want is to come to an accord with Depp, and continue to try and work out a deal that could pay him roughly $15M if he agrees. With Depp set to shoot Wally Pfister's Transcendence, and his two biggest franchises gearing up for sequels, the window of opportunity has probably closed.

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Johnny Depp may depart Whitey Bulger pic 'Black Mass' over salary disputes

Just as Pirates of the Caribbean 5 is ready to move forward with Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sanberg taking the helm, another Johnny Depp project may have run aground.  Depp had been set to star in Barry Levinson's Black Mass, a biopic on infamous Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. After taking awhile to get moving, it was starting to take shape with Joel Edgerton recently coming aboard to play FBI agent John Connoll, Bulger's childhood friend. But with filming set to begin this summer, producers may need to start looking for a new A-list star to step in and fill Depp's shoes.

A number of sources are reporting that a salary dispute may be causing Depp to depart the project, mainly because sales at Cannes didn't go exactly as expected. Because of that, the budget was reduced down to about $60M, which is pretty big for a crime film, but not not when you factor in Depp's usual $20M salary. A deal to try and cut his salary in half isn't going over well, as one might expect, and it's looking like they may not be able to reach a compromise.

This is a potentially major film, but it's largely being powered with the promise of Depp in the lead role. If he drops out, the prospects of Black Mass happening  will take a huge hit, especially with other Bulger adaptations in various stages of development. Expect to hear something definite soon.

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Sure Shots: Samuel L. Jackson; Drew Goddard; Joel Edgerton

* Because every Buffy needs a Giles, the Hailee Steinfeld teen-assassin flick Barely Lethal needed someone to play her guide, and it looks like that guy is Samuel L. Jackson. The action comedy stars Steinfeld as a 16-year old assassin who seeks normalcy by faking her own death and enrolling in a normal suburban high school as a senior. Jackson will play her mentor who trains her in the program. Kyle Newman is directing, with Brett Ratner on board to produce. [Variety]

* How does one follow-up on the awesome critical success of The Cabin in the Woods? If you're director Drew Goddard, you venture off into deep space. He'll write and direct The Martian, an adaptation of Andy Weir's e-book about an astronaut stranded on Mars and must survive long enough to get home. If you're looking to download the book, you'll have to wait as it's currently unavailable in preparation for a print release. [The Wrap]

* Suddenly Joel Edgerton's name is on the tip of every Hollywood producer's tongue. Just a few hours ago he signed on to star in The Double Hour alongside Michelle Williams, and now he'll join Johnny Depp in the Whitey Bulger pic, Black Mass. Directed by Barry Levinson, the story will chronicle the infamous mobster's criminal career that led to his emergence a the top of the FBI Most Wanted list. Edgerton will play FBI agent John Connolly, who was also Bulger's childhood friend. Tasked with bringing down the Italian mob, he did so but only to help his friend secure power. [Deadline]

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