Oprah Winfrey and Alessandro Nivola Join MLK Biopic, 'Selma'

There's a good chance Lee Daniels' The Butler wouldn't have gotten made at all without the power of Oprah Winfrey behind it as one of the film's many producers. But more than that, there's little chance it would have received half as much attention if she hadn't agreed to take a major leading role. And now Winfrey is stepping in front of the camera for another film she's producing, Ava Duvernay's developing Martin Luther King biopic, Selma.

Winfrey is set to play civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper, an older woman who was prevented by Sheriff Clark from registering to vote. Also coming aboard is Alessandro Nivola (American Hustle) in the role of fellow activist John Doar. They join David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Common, Wendell Pierce, Tessa Thompson, and more in the film which centers on King's 1965 march for voting rights in Alabama, a seminal event in the civil rights movement.

Filming on Selma is underway now. [TheWrap]

Read More

Joe Berlinger to Direct Vera Farmiga and Evan Rachel Wood in 'Facing the Wind'

Joe Berlinger spent years following the 20-year saga of the West Memphis Three with his three amazing Paradise Lost documentaries, and now he's tackling another true crime story in Facing the Wind.

Vera Farmiga, Alessandro Nivola, Evan Rachel Wood, Rita Wilson, and Jennifer Beals are set to star in the film which chronicles the true story of Bob Rowe, a seemingly perfect husband who murdered his entire family, and the hallmark 1978 trial that followed in which he was among the first to successfully mount an insanity defense. The story will also follows his quest for redemption. Nivola will play Rowe, with Farmiga as his murdered first wife and Wood as his second spouse.  Richard Stratton wrote the script, choosing to tell most of the story through flashback.

Berlinger is known primarily for his documentary work and has largely stayed away from narrative features, but he directed Blair Witch 2 back in 2000 and helmed episodes of Homicide: Life On the Street. [TheWrap]

Read More

David O. Russell's Abscam film hits this December

He's already found a measure of Oscar success with The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, but David O. Russell may not be done yet. Bringing back practically everyone he hit it big with the last few years, O. Russell's upcoming film formerly titled American Bullshit has just landed a release date that puts it square in the awards season mix.

Columbia Pictures has given his film based on the 1980s Abscam scandal a December 13th limited release date, before opening nationwide on Christmas Day. Why such a high-profile date? Well let's take a look at the cast, shall we? Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Louis C.K., and..oh yeah, Alessandro Nivola (Junebug) just joined today. That's what I like to call a Murderer's Row, folks.

Penned by Eric Singer (The International), the film tells the true story of Abscam, in which a notorious financial con artist(Bale) and his mistress/partner (Adams) are forced to work with an out of control fed (Cooper) to turn the tables on politicians, mobsters, and other con artists. Renner will play a New Jersey state assemblyman at the heart of the scandal, while Lawrence will play Bale's wife. Nivola takes on the role of a federal prosecutor.

Filming begins later this month.

Read More