Samuel L. Jackson is 'The Black Phantom', Dakota Fanning Joins 'American Pastoral', Casey Affleck Boards 'The Finest Hours'

 Playing characters with wildly flamboyant and colorful names is nothing to Samuel L. Jackson. Nick Fury, "Stacks" Edwards (in Goodfellas), Zeus Carver (Die Hard with a Vengeance), Shaft, Romulus Ledbetter (The Caveman's Valentine), Mace Windu, The Octupus (The Spirit), and that's just the start. Now you can add The Black Phantom to his list of strange monickers as Jackson has replaced Jamie Foxx in the action-comedy. He'll star alongside Kevin Hart with Tim Story directing the film about the partnership between a betrayed mob enforcer played by Hart, and Jackson's Black Phantom, the notorious hit man hired to kill him. [Deadline]

Hot on the heels of Jennifer Connelly coming aboard Philip Noyce's adaptation of American Pastoral comes word that Dakota Fanning is now joining the cast. Ewan McGregor stars in the film based on Philip Roth's book, with Fanning taking on the key role of Merry Levov, the daughter to happily middle-class Jewish businessman Swede Levov, whose life is upended by the political climate of the 1960s.

Casey Affleck is in talks to join Chris Pine in Disney's rescue drama, The Finest Hours. Directed by Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm), the true story is based on the 1952 collision of two oil tankers near Cape Cod and the daring Coast Guard rescue that followed. Affleck will be seen next in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and is planning to direct a biopic on Major League Baseball slugger Josh Hamilton. [Deadline]

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Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart Team Up for 'The Black Phantom'; Tim Story May Direct

Tim Story and Kevin Hart have been tied at the hip for a couple of years now, and it's worked to their mutual benefit. Think Like a Man and Ride Along did wonders for both, which is why it's no surprise there are sequels on the way. And they're about to team up at least one more time, only they're letting Jamie Foxx get in on some of the action.

Hart and Foxx, which already sounds like a comedy act, are set to star in The Black Phantom, which Story is in talks to helm with Will Packer producing. The script by Dave Lease and Megan Hinds centers on a mob hitman who enlists the aid of the Black Phantom, the same African-American assassin who had been sent to kill him. It's not clear who is playing which role, but the idea of Hart saving Foxx is already funny.

The film has been bouncing around for years with Foxx loosely attached at various stages. Idris Elba, Eddie Murphy, and Justin Timberlake have also been mentioned for it in the past. [Variety]

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