Keanu Reeves Joins Tarsem's 'The Panopticon'; Djimon Hounsou Eyed for 'Knights of the Round Table'

The Keanussaiance continues! Reeves is set to star in The Panopticon, the next film from visual dynamo Tarsem Singh, the director behind The Fall, Mirror Mirror, and Immortals. It's been awhile since we'd heard anything about the film, which centers on "a seemingly ordinary man who receives a mysterious package containing a pre-recorded message from himself, warning that the world is about to end and only he can save it. He must race against the clock to piece together the puzzle before time runs out for mankind."

Djimon Hounsou, who has already had quite a year with How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy, is being rumored to replace Idris Elba in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur film, Knights of the Round Table. With Charlie Hunnam as Arthur, Hounsou would play his Merlin-esque mentor. [HeyUGuys]

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Ryan Reynolds teams up with Tarsem for 'Selfless'

The knock on visual auteur Tarsem Singh has always been that his films are certainly breathtaking and imaginatively constructed, but that the stories never quite measure up. I would take issue with that when it comes his incredible sophomore film, The Fall, but certainly think the criticism applies to Mirror Mirror and Immortals. He'll get another shot to put his creative eye to good use helming a film with a far out premise that should be right up his alley.

Tarsem will team up with Ryan Reynolds on Selfless, which features a script by Alex and David Pastor (Carriers), that is simply bazarre...

"An extremely wealthy, elderly man dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man but everything may not be as good as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origins and the secret organization that will kill to keep its secrets."

So it's kind of like what Reynolds was doing in The Change-Up, only much darker and hopefully a lot more entertaining? Sounds just crazy enough to work, actually, especially if the script is strong enough to support what  Tarsem will surely bring behind the camera. No word on when this will roll as Reynolds is currently filming Marjane Satrapi's The Voices. Tarsem has been attached to a major Marco Polo biopic that we haven't heard anything about since Gong Li came aboard last year.  [Deadline]

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Chris Hemsworth the frontrunner for Snow White and the Huntsman

With Thor about to strike theaters this weekend, Chris Hemsworth is about to have his profile raised in a mighty way. So much so that his name is showing up for a role that a pair of A-listers recently passed on. Variety is reporting that Universal now has Hemsworth pegged for the lead in Rupert Sanders' Snow White and the Huntsman.

This is a big change in direction, as the the two previous contenders, Viggo Mortensen and Hugh Jackman, both skewed much older. Even Joel Edgerton, who is still in the running but behind Hemsworth now, is nearly 40. Hemsworth is 27, and closer in age to star Kristen Stewart, so it wouldn't be as icky if they were to make out or something.

Variety is quick to note that an offer hasn't been made, but the gig is his if he wants it. It's probably going to boil down to scheduling, as Hemsworth finds himself hip deep in Marvels superhero universe now. He'll be shooting The Avengers soon, and who knows what else that will entail when it comes to sequels and spinoffs.

Huntsman is a more action oriented take on the Snow White fairy tale. The Huntsman is dispatched by the evil queen(Charlize Theron) to kill Snow White, but refuses and the two go on the run. Sounds like a perfect setup to some close quarters sexual tension.

Universal has already set December 21st, 2012 as the release date, but have seen the film fall behind Tarsem Singh's Snow White project(starring Julia Roberts) in the race to completion.



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War of the Gods Gets a Name Change and a New Pair of Gods

Quickly, as I'm about to run out the door and sit through Miley Cyrus's The Last Song(shut up),Tarsem's anticipated mythological action flick, War of the Gods, has been renamed. For awhile Relativity Media seemed torn between that title and Dawn of War, but now they've settled on something new: Immortals. No word has been given as to why they felt a name change was in order, but I'm betting it has something to do with getting some distance from the similarly themed Clash of the Titans. Let's just hope this film's better. If it's half as good as Tarsem's visual stunner, The Fall, then it absolutely will be.

Also they've managed to snag a couple of high profile stars to fill out two of the film's  biggest roles. The first is John Hurt(Hellboy, Dogville), who will be wielding the lightning bolt of Zeus, the ruler of the gods. The second is Isabel Lucas(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) as Zeus's daughter, Athena. They join an already impressive cast featuring Mickey Rourke, Frieda Pinto, and Henry Cavill. 

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Mickey Rourke Joins War of the Gods

What's up? Was Mickey Rourke's turn as the somewhat heroic, if flawed, grappler in The Wrestler just a blimp on the radar? Ever since he's been cast almost exclusively as a heelish villain. He's playing Tony Stark's nemesis, Whiplash, in the upcoming Iron Man 2. Now he's signed on to Tarsem's mythology-based actioner, War of the Gods. He'll be taking on the role of King Hyperion, one of the mythical Titans who were supplanted by the more well known Greek Gods and sent into hiding. 

In Greek mythology, Hyperion was the former god of the Sun, before the Titans were soundly defeated. His role was then taken up by the god, Apollo.

War of the Gods centers around Theseus(the man who defeated the Minotaur), a warrior who must team up with the Greek gods in order to stop the Titans from rising up to reclaim their former glory, destroying the world in the process. 

Read more of Variety's coverage of the story here.

Shooting is set to begin in April.

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