Rebecca Hall Joins Joel Edgerton's Directing Debut; Joshua Marston Lands Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon for Next Film

Joel Edgerton has scored numerous screenwriting credits in some impressive films (The Square, The Rover, Felony), but now he's going all the way by making his directorial debut. The untitled project is described as a contemporary suspense thriller which he'll also write and co-star in, and he's already landed a star in Iron Man 3's Rebecca Hall. No other details are available at this point but this is one to keep an eye on. [TheWrap]

The vastly underrated Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace, The Forgiveness of Blood) is setting up his next film, and he's off to a pretty good start with Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon coming aboard to star. The untitled film centers on "Alice, the intriguing guest introduced at a dinner party hosted by Tom and his wife, celebrating his birthday. Tom increasingly believes he knows Alice but by a different name and a different biography, and suspects that she’s not there entirely by coincidence. The evening spins into a highly-charged reunion between a man in need of making a change in his life and a woman who desperately wants to stop changing." Filming begins early next year and yep, I'm excited for this one! [ScreenDaily]

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So much for Olivier Assayas' 'Idol's Eye' with Robert Pattinson and Robert De Niro

While it's easy to find money for movies based on comics or '80s toys, directors who tend to make smaller projects are still having trouble. That even goes for Olivier Assayas, who had amassed a terrific cast for Idol's Eye, which would have starred Robert Pattinson, Robert De Niro, and Rachel Weisz. Unfortunately, even with that group of A-listers it was still too difficult for Benaroya Pictures to secure financing and the film has been cancelled. Here's their statement:

Due to the criteria for financing not being met by producers, Benaroya Pictures has formally decided to discontinue financing the motion picture titled IDOL’S EYE. The company cannot continue to put its investment at risk and has been forced to stop cash flowing the production. This is something all of us wanted to avoid, but due to the producers missing a number of financing criteria deadlines that were mutually established by all parties, we were left with no other options. Benaroya Pictures plans to retain the rights of the film and move forward with production on the picture after we generate a revised script and assemble a new filmmaking team.

So there's still some hope that the heist film, based on the true story of average criminals who accidentally rob a mob-owned porn store, will securing financing and move forward some time in the future. It's especially disappointing given how successful Pattinson's Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart was in Assayas' last film, Clouds of Sils Maria.  [Deadline]

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Rachel Weisz Out, Drew Barrymore In for Catherine Hardwicke's 'Miss You Already'

That comeback Catherine Hardwicke was supposed to have made after toiling in tween territory with Twilight and Red Riding Hood didn't really pan out. Her last film, the hard-rock erotic thriller Plush, came and went so fast I forgot it had been released to savage reviews.There's a great deal of potential in her next film, titled Miss You Already, but it has just suffered a major change at the top with Rachel Weisz dropping out and replaced by Drew Barrymore.

Variety reports that Barrymore has come on to star with Toni Collette in the female-geared drama, which centers on best friends who hit the skids when one finally gets pregnant and the other is diagnosed with breast cancer. Also coming aboard are Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine, and Jacqueline Bissett. This sounds like a good way for Barrymore to put Blended out of mind.

Morwenna Banks wrote the script and hopefully it's good enough to put Hardwicke back on the right track.

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Rachel Weisz Circles 'The Light Between Oceans' with Michael Fassbender

It's been a quiet couple of years for Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, with only The Bourne Legacy and Oz the Great and Powerful occupying her time in that span. Neither of those really demanded a lot from her, either, but her next project could as she's in early talks to join Michael Fassbender in Derek Cianfrance's The Light Between Oceans.

The Wrap has the news of Weisz entering negotiations for the adaptation of M.L. Stedman's novel, which also has Alicia Vikander on board. Set on the Australian coast after WWI, the story follows a lighthouse keeper and his wife who make the fateful decision to raise the 2-month-old child they discovered in a rowboat alongside a dead body. They soon discover that raising the child comes with consequences neithe was prepared for. Weisz would play the child's mother if she signs on.

Rachel Weisz, Derek Cianfrance, and Michael Fassbender? Yes please. No word on when filming will begin but hopefully it will be soon enough to be ready in 2015. Weisz next appears in futuristic romance, The Lobster.

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Juliette Binoche Joins 'The Wait'; Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano Find 'Youth' for Paolo Sorrentino

With Cannes about to get underway in a few days a number of films are already being shopped and sold around the Croisette. And now we have a couple of them, one directed by Paolo Sorrentino who debuted his Oscar-winner The Great Beauty at last year's Cannes, and another from one of Sorrentino's long-time assistants.

First up, Juliette Binoche is set to star in The Wait from debut director Piero Messina, an Italian filmmaker who worked with Sorrentino on This Must Be the Place and The Great Beauty. Binoche will be joined by Giorgio Colangeli (Il Divo) in what is described as a "female competition drama" set in the Sicilian countryside and centering on a mother and her son's fiancee sizing one another up while stuck together over Easter holiday. Filming begins in July. [Variety]

And as for Sorrentino himself, he's lined up Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, and Harvey Keitel to join the previously-cast Michael Caine in Youth. Penned by Sorrentino, the film centers on two friends, one a composer the other a movie director, who are nearing the end of their careers and decide to face the future together while vacationing in an elegant hotel in the Alps. [Variety]

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Catherine Hardwicke to Direct Toni Collette and Rachel Weisz in 'Miss You Already'

The Morwenna Banks-scripted dramedy Miss You Already has been developing for a couple of years, but never seems to gain any traction. Jennifer Aniston seemed to give it a firm A-list lead with which to build from, with Paul Andrew Williams in line to direct. Toni Collette joined soon after, only for the project to run aground for various reasons. Now it's back on with a new director, a new star, and hopefully some new momentum.

Deadline reports that Catherine Hardwicke has replaced Williams as director, while Rachel Weisz is in for Aniston. Collette remains attached to the film which centers on "lifelong best friends whose relationship is tested as they confront a crisis." The story, described as similar to Beaches, is based on Banks' personal experiences. Invoking Beaches is probably a good way to make sure no guy pays to see this movie.

The film will be shopped around at Cannes where it should find lots of potential investors with Weisz and Hardwicke on board.

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Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell Snare 'The Lobster'

As busy as Colin Farrell was last year with three movies, including Saving Mr. Banks, he's got just as much going on in 2014. Next week will see him headline Akiva Goldsman's Winter's Tale, the long-developing adaptation of Mark Helprin's fantasy novel. On the other hand, Rachel Weisz has been pretty quiet with only Oz the Great and Powerful under her belt recently and not a lot on the way. But she and Farrell are adding one more project, joining the English-language debut of Oscar-nominated Dogtooth director, Yorgos Lanthimos.

Weisz and Farrell will star in The Lobster,  alongside the previously-cast Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, Olivia Colman, Ariane Labed and Aggeliki Papoulia. Lanthimos co-wrote the script with Efthimis Filippou, his longtime collaborator, and the story is set in a dystopian future where finding a partner is a matter of life and death. Pretty vague, but the talent Lanthimos has assembled promises there's a lot more to it than the logline suggests.

Filming on The Lobster is set to begin in March.

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Rachel Weisz joins Robert Pattinson and Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars'

David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis turned out to be quite the head-scratcher, and I'm not sure even his fans were able to get behind it. It looked for awhile like there would be something of a return to normalcy with the developing Eastern Promises sequel, but that flamed out. Fortunately one of Cronenberg's long-developing projects appears to be picking up steam.

Rachel Weisz is the latest to join Maps to the Stars, an industry satire penned by Brad Wagner that has been described as "very acerbic" and follows agents, actors, and managers with an emphasis on two children ruined by Hollywood depravity. In the works since around 2006, the film gained momentum earlier this year when Robert Pattinson came aboard, and Viggo Mortensen has now been confirmed as well. Pattinson, Mortensen, Weisz, and Cronenberg? Yeah, I'll take that.

I didn't enjoy Cosmopolis one bit, and Pattinson was awful in it, but maybe the second time will be the charm? Surely something will rub off on him working alongside Mortensen and Weisz. Filming is set to begin in May. [Allocine via ThePlaylist]

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Future 'Bourne' films will follow Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross

It was only a few weeks ago that producer Frank Marshall seemed pretty excited about the future of the Jason Bourne franchise, and the hope of new star Jeremy Renner teaming with old star Matt Damon. Eh, probably not going to happen. Or at the very least, Marshall doesn't seem to think it will anytime soon.

At the press day for The Bourne Legacy, Marshall made it clear that any fifth film will have Renner as the face of it...

Marshall: Well, I think that all those possibilities are open, but we're gonna follow Jeremy's character. But everything else is wide open. That's the great thing about where we are now, the table is set to go any direction we want to, but we will, for sure, follow Jeremy and Rachel and see what happens."

That would be Renner's Aaron Cross character, who is an operative from a project similar to Treadstone, and suffers much of the immediate impact from Bourne's actions in the previous flicks. What Marshall's statement also reveals is that Rachel Weisz's character will survive long enough for a sequel. Then again, Franka Potente made it to The Bourne Supremacy and then she ended up in the drink.

None of this means we won't see an Aaron Cross/Jason Bourne team-up down the line, and when asked about it Renner played it close to the vest....

Renner: "I'm excited that the architects and creators behind this sort of thing have cleverly left it wide open for fans like myself wondering what the heck's going to go on next."

The Bourne Legacy is directed by Tony Gilroy and opens on August 10th.

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Terrence Malick's upcoming romance gets a title and 'R' rating

It's become a little overwhelming trying to keep track of all the projects Terrence Malick has headed our way. That's pretty remarkable considering how we used to wait years for him to complete another film, just like we waited forever for The Tree of Life last year. We know just this year alone Malick will be filming the music industry drama, formerly titled Lawless, and he also has Knight of Cups planned. There was one more untitled romance film that we actually heard about first, with Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Peet, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Chastain and Barry Pepper all set to star. Now that incredible sounding film not only has a title, but we also have a clue just how intense it may be.

To The Wonder is the title of Malick's film according to The Classifications and Rating Administration. The story has Affleck as a philanderer who, feeling at loose ends, travels to Paris and hooks up with a hot European woman(Kurylenko). Returning home to Oklahoma, he marries the European woman partly out of Visa concerns, but when the relationship starts to fail he rekindles a romance with a hometown girl(McAdams) that he shares a history with.  The film has been granted an 'R' rating for "some sexuality/nudity". 

The rating is a good sign that the film is close to being completed, but as we all know from Malick's history, he tends to get a little obsessive in the editing process. Still, there's an outside shot we'll see this later in the year, or possibly early in 2013. [TheFilmStage]

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Nicole Kidman in, Rachel Weisz out as star of 'The Railway Man' opposite Colin Firth

It's always sad when the great Rachel Weisz has to leave an eagerly awaited project such as The Railway Man, but in this case it's for a good reason. According to TheDailyMail, the actress had to bow out in order to complete reshoots on Oz the Great and Powerful and The Bourne Legacy, which are poised to be huge.

Stepping in to fill her shoes is the suddenly very busy Nicole Kidman, stepping into the adaptation of Eric Lomax's memoir. Colin Firth is set to star as the British Army officer, who was captured by the Japanese during WWII and sent to a Thailand POW camp. There he and the other prisoners were forced labor for the Burma railway, the building of which was depicted in The Bridge On the River Kwai. Kidman will play Lomax's wife, Patricia Wallace, who helps him overcome the effects of his imprisonment. Lomax would ultimately reconcile with some of the men who held him captive.  War Horse star Jeremy Irvine will play Lomax as a younger man, with Firth the older version.

Jonathan Teplitzky(Burning Man) is directing, with a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce(Millions). Kidman just yesterday took on the lead in Rowan Joffe's amnesia thriller, Before I Go To Sleep, adding to an already packed 2012. She'll be seen next in The Paperboy for Lee Daniels, and then Park Chan-Wook's English language debut, Stoker.

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Rachel Weisz to star opposite Colin Firth in The Railway Man

As great as she is, and as much as I love her, it's been a couple of years since there was good reason to swoon over Rachel Weisz in a really good film. Like all the way back to 2009's The Brothers Bloom. 2011 hasn't exactly been stellar. The Whistleblower was a mediocre political thriller beneath her considerable talents, and the less said about Dream House the better. At least she got a studly new boytoy out of it. There's still a chance 360, which sees her paired up with The Constant Gardener director Fernando Meirelles, could be a hit but the word I'm hearing hasn't been positive in the least. So maybe it's time to look forward to 2012 for Weisz to bounce back. 

She'll join a film that's I've been keenly interested in since it was first announced.  That would be The Railway Man, based on the autobiography by Eric Lomax, a British Army officer and member of the Royal Corps of Signals who was captured by the Japanese and sent to a POW camp in 1942. The well known bridge over the river Kwai(yep, from the movie) was built using his forced labor and that of other POWs, and Lomax suffered terrible tortures and indignities as well.

Colin Firth is playing Lomax, with War Horse star Jeremy Irvine as the younger version of him. Weisz will be Patricia Wallace, Lomax's wife, who helps him deal with the aftereffects of his captivity by suggesting he reach out to his former tormentors. In 1995, Lomax reconciled with one of those torturers, and it was chronicled in an award winning documentary, Enemy My Friend.

Jonathan Teplitzky, director of the Matthew Goode festival hit, Burning Man(will we ever see it??), is behind the camera. What really gets me amped for this besides the story, which is amazing and deserving of big screen recognition, is that Frank Cottrell Boyce(Millions, 24 Hour Party People) wrote the script. Check please. Count me in.

Next year's looking good for Weisz, even if a lot of isn't the most hard hitting of her career. She has a role in one of Terrence Malick's upcoming films, which means she'll be great and nobody will go see it. After that it's pure franchise fluff, as she'll be in the next James Bond film, Skyfall. And let's not forget she'll don her pointy hat and play the evil witch Evanora in Sam Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful. [DailyMail]

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Marion Cotillard in talks for The Dark Knight Rises; has not been cast yet

This is a follow-up from last night's story. Over the weekend a French newspaper reported that Marion Cotillard had been cast Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Today comes an update courtesy of THR, who confirm that the Inception actress is in talks to join but nothing has been inked as of yet. Entertainment Weekly is reporting the deal is done, but that's not true at this point.

Cotillard's signing is far from a done deal, as scheudling conflicts could arise. Nolan is also said to be interviewing other actresses for the "love interest" role, including Naomi Watts and Rachl Weisz, both we've known about for awhile. Kate Winslet is also said to be meeting for the part. 

If signed, Cotillard would start shooting from London in June, then all summer in LA and Pittsburgh before wrapping up in November in New York.  THR also notes that she's expected to fill the role of Talia Al Ghul(daughter of Liam Neeson's Ra's Al Ghul), which has been rumored for weeks.

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Rachel Weisz: Bond Girl?

Even as Bond 23 struggled to finally achieve the greenlight it just got a few days ago from MGM, casting news about the film continued to crop up. Obviously Sam Mendes as director was one thing that stuck around, but my favorite rumor was from last March, stating that Rachel Weisz could be up for playing the villain in the as yet untitled flick. You didn't think they would stick with 'Bond 23', did you? For shame. Now that story's reared it's gorgeous head again, but with a slight twist.

Starpulse is reporting a rumor, and it is still very much a rumor, that Weisz could actually be a love interest for Daniel Craig's James Bond. The story states that she's "in talks", but just how deep those discussions go is anybody's guess. Heck, she might flat out reject the idea, but I doubt that would happen. Not just because she's currently swapping spit(reportedly!!!) and other bodily fluids with the film's star, but because it's a high profile gig and she'd be perfect for it. Weisz could play either a bad girl villainess or one of Bond's many conquests effortlessly. 

Since there are no plot details yet, here's my hope: Weisz joins the cast, and she's one of Bond's love interests who ends up double crossing him, revealing herself to be a member of Quantum, the evil organization running things throughout all of the flicks so far.  That would be awesome.

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Sure Shots: Rachel Weisz; Mis-Fits; Leslie Mann

Quickly...

* Rachel Weisz is looking to reteam with The Constant Gardener director, Fernando Meirelles, in a psycho-sexual drama called 360. The film is based on Arthur Schnitzler's play, Reigen, about a cycle of promiscuity between numerous couples. Gardener is in my personal opinion the best political thriller of the last ten years at least, and Meirelle's City of God was amazing as well. Between his working with Weisz again(she won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Gardener) and the storyline I think this is one flick I'll be keeping a close eye on.

* Guy Pearce, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Seymour Cassel, Cloris Leachman and Virginie Ledoyen have joined the cast of L.D. Napier's directorial debut, Mis-fits. The quirky comedy follows a necro-detective who goes in search of people's lost, dead relatives. That doesn't sound quirky or funny at all. On a side note, I think this is the first time I've even thought about Virginie Ledoyen since 2000's The Beach. She sorta fell off the mainstream map.

* Leslie Mann(from every film her husband Judd Apatow makes) has signed on as the female lead character in The Change-Up, one of the many flicks weighing down Ryan Reynolds' schedule. She'll star alongside him and Jason Bateman in the comedy about two guys who accidentally switch bodies. One of them a married dude, the other a bachelor. I'm guessing the now single guy will try to bang Leslie Mann's character. Call it a hunch.

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Rachel Weisz: Bond Villain?

I'm not a religious man, but I pray this is true, although it's certainly in rated G for gossip at this point. Cinema Blend is sorta reporting, sorta hinting at the possibility of Rachel Weisz(The Constant Gardener, The Fountain) playing the chief villain the next James Bond film. Who's car do I have to wash to make this happen?

Blend goes on to state that this is coming from a "reliable source" with inside info, yet they seem to be going out of their way to not confirm anything. Weisz has openly expressed interest in being in a Bond film in the past, and has a close working relationship with Daniel Craig. What's more, she used to have a thang goin' on with director Sam Mendes, who last we heard was in talks to helm the film. Weisz would be up to play the mysterious head of the globe spanning Quantum Organization, the nefarious syndicate causing Bond so much grief for the last two films.

Obviously, Weisz's presence would be a major coup for the franchise. Having an actress of her caliber, going toe-to-toe with Daniel Craig could setoff some major fireworks, since we're so used to seeing women used primarily as playthings in the series. Um, except for Judi Dench.

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