Will Smith, Tom Hardy, and More Confirmed for 'Suicide Squad'; Oprah Winfrey (!!!) Sought for Role

Marvel may have done a great job of creating new stars (how many of you REALLY cared about Chris Evans before Captain America?), but Warner Bros. is hoping to go the more established route. Suicide Squad doesn't have the same name recognition as DC's top brands like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, so we've seen them shoot for the moon in casting, and now it all appears to have paid off.

Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Margot Robbie, and Cara Delevingne are officially set to star in the villain film, which David Ayer (Fury) will direct. For Hardy this will be a return to the DC Universe after playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, only this time he'll be taking on the role of Rick Flagg. Smith is set to play Deadshot, Leto is confirmed as the Joker with Robbie as his gal Harley Quinn, while Delevingne is the Enchantress and Courtney is Boomerang. Pretty cool lineup, and it gives Smith a chance to play an actual comic book character after starring as a washed-up superhero in Hancock.

There's more, though, as Variety adds that Viola Davis, her The Help and Get On Up co-star Octavia Spencer, and Oprah Winfrey (!!!!!!) sought to take on the role of Amanda Waller. Waller, aka "The Wall" is the tough-as-nails head of the government organization that uses supervillains as expendable assets on suicide missions. Angela Bassett portrayed her in the Green Lantern film, but who cares about that when Oprah!?!? As you might have guessed, Oprah is the studio's top pick.

Suicide Squad is set to open on August 5th 2016.  Let the fan art begin.

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Is Margot Robbie Playing Harley Quinn in 'Suicide Squad'?

Forget The Avengers, the hot superhero team right now is Suicide Squad, which will be the first DC Comics film to follow-up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. With David Ayer already on board to direct, Warner Bros. has been shooting for the moon in casting the team of villains with Will Smith and Tom Hardy apparently in the mix, Jesse Eisenberg possibly appearing as Lex Luthor, and Jared Leto recently rumored to be playing the Joker. Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) has been the closest to signing on for an unspecified role for weeks, but Collider now says she's set to play Joker's equally looney girlfriend, Harley Quinn.

This contradicts a recent story that suggested Cara Delevingne was in line for the Harley Quinn role, so we need to hold out for some official confirmation. The screenplay by Justin Marks was written some time ago as the film has been in development for years and it's likely to have undergone significant rewrites, adding in more DC Comics characters and perhaps changing the "Task Force X" roster completely. Neither Joker or Harley Quinn was said to be part of the lineup in some earlier reports on the script. Joker has never been a member of the Suicide Squad, not even in its most recent incarnation, while Harley Quinn has been part of the Squad since 2011's "New 52" relaunch.

Suicide Squad is set to open on August 5th 2016.

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Cara Delevingne may Suit Up for 'Suicide Squad'; Also Sought for 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5'

The first DC Comics film to follow Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice won't be one of the heavy hitters like Wonder Woman or the Flash. Surprisingly it will be Suicide Squad, which is coming together now under the direction of End of Watch and Fury helmer, David Ayer. While Margot Robbie seems like a lock for an unspecified role, another actress may be coming aboard to play DC's team of villains.

A rumor over at Latino Review says rising star Cara Delevingne is up for a role in Suicide Squad, and they speculate she could play Harley Quinn,  the Joker's equally psychotic "girlfriend" and partner-in-crime. Previous reports had the lineup as Blockbuster (Mark Desmond), Multiplex (Danton Black), Jaculi, Mindboggler (Leah Wasserman), Captain Boomerang (George Harkness), Vixen (Mari Jiwe McCabe) and Deadshot (Floyd Lawton), but if Ayer rewrites the script he could find a way to put Harley Quinn into the mix. Or Latino Review is just plain wrong, which is a distinct possibility. But if you take a look back through Delvingne's Instagram page you'll find that she posted an interesting photo of Harley Quinn some weeks ago. Coincidence?  She's apparently also being sought for a role in Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell no Tales.

Delevingne is a model and singer who made her big screen debut in Joe Wright's Anna Karenina. She'll rejoin Wright for the Peter Pan film, Pan, and has a role in Paper Towns, based on the book by John Green.  Suicide Squad opens August 5th 2016.

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Cara Delevingne Joins 'Paper Towns'; Ben Kingsley and Brie Larson Cross 'Brooklyn Bridge'

Now that John Green's book The Fault in Our Stars has mopped up $299M worth of audience tears (only a $12M budget, by the way), the author is a hot commodity in Hollywood. Already a couple of adaptations are on the way, but the next one is Paper Towns which has long had Nat Wolff (he played Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars) set for the lead role. Now British model and actress Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) will join him, taking on the role of Margo Spiegelman, the mysterious girl next door who goes missing, prompting her neighbor and crush Quentin (Wolff) to find her using clues he thinks she left behind. Directed by Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank), Paper Towns opens July 31st 2015. [TheWrap]

Earlier this year Daniel Radcliffe joined the period drama Brooklyn Bridge, playing engineer Washington Roebling, the man who oversaw the bridge's construction after his father suddenly died. Now he'll be accompanied by Brie Larson and Ben Kingsley, coming aboard the film written and directed by Doug McGrath. Koebling became obsessed with finishing his father's designs for the bridge, even at the cost of his own health and family. Kingsley's role remains unclear but Larson will play one of Robel's unexpected allies.

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Mark Strong Joins 'Grimsby'; Cara Delevingne Eyes 'Pan' and 'Tulip Fever'; 'Blood Father' Enlists Erin Moriarty

* Sacha Baron Cohen just gained a sibling, and it's none other than tough guy Mark Strong. Strong has joined Cohen in the spy comedy, Grimsby, directed by Louis Leterrier. Cohen co-writes and stars in the film as the bumbling football hooligan brother to a Black Ops agent played by Strong. [Deadline]

* Supermodel Cara Delevingne continues to build up her acting cred after appearing in Joe Wright's Anna Karenina. She's now eying two high-profile roles, including one in Wright's follow-up, Pan. She's landed a small role in the dark Peter Pan origin story, joining Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, Amanda Seyfried, and Levi Miller.

Delevingne is also in talks to join Dane DeHaan and Alicia Vikander (also of Anna Karenina) in Tulip Fever, Justin Chadwick's long-developing adaptation of Deborah Moggach's period romance. The 17th century romance centers on an illicit love affair between a merchant's wife and a painter during a time when tulip mania was sweeping Amsterdam.

* Just a few days ago Mel Gibson came aboard a Taken-style action flick titled Blood Father, about an ex-con protecting his teenaged daughter from drug dealers trying to kill her. Now Erin Moriarty (The Kings of Summer, True Detective) has come aboard to play that daughter, and the plot has been expanded somewhat.  Gibson's character is described as a former member of the Hell's Angels and goes on the run with his daughter after she witnesses her boyfriend's murder. [The Tracking Board]

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Teaser for Michael Winterbottom's Amanda Knox Drama 'The Face of an Angel'

Michael Winterbottom has been saying for awhile that his film The Face of an Angel isn't directly based on the Amanda Knox murder trial, but judging by this first look footage it will certainly use it to draw attention. Inspired by Barbie Latza Nadeau's book Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Bruhl, and Cara Delavingne in a renamed account of the media circus that accompanied the trial.

The project is due to be sold on the European Film Market, and it's bound to be one of the hottest properties there with all of the buzz surrounding Knox's recent conviction by an Italian court. The Seattle-born Knox had been accused of murdering her roommate in Italy, and was held in prison four years before the original conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered. Last month she was convicted of murder again, with Knox absent from the proceedings, and an appeal filed that should send the case to Italy's Supreme Court.

Winterbottom's film will deal with much more than that, centering on a struggling filmmaker, who has recently been separated from his family, who has been assigned to write a movie based on the case. While researching it with an author, he falls in love with a girl who helps him put his priorities in order. Does he keep trying to solve the case? Or return to his family?

No release date yet, but expect The Face of an Angel to be a big seller in the coming weeks, although to me it looks like something that should be airing on Oxygen.

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Kate Beckinsale Has 'The Face of an Angel'; Hugh Jackman Eyes 'Section 6'; Chris Pine is a Horrible Boss

*Kate Beckinsale has joined Daniel Bruhl (Rush) and Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) in The Face of an Angel, Michael Winterbottom's film based on the true story of Amanda Knox. Adapted from Barbie Latza Nadeau's book, the story offers a fictionalized account of the events that led to Knox, an American student living in Italy, who was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering her roommate. After serving four years in prison, the conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered, but Knox remains a controversial figure. Beckinsale will play a reporter investigating the case, with Bruhl as a documentary filmmaker, and Delevingne as the Knox character. [Deadline]

* Hugh Jackman probably should have played a secret agent long ago, but he may finally have the opportunity. He's circling Section 6, based on a script by first-time writer Aaron Berg that "follows the World War I-era formation of British intelligence agency MI6 and its first director, Sir George Mansfield Cummings, who served as the inspiration for M in the 'James Bond' series." Sounds amazing, which is why Jackman Seems to be so interested. Apparently so are Justin Lin and Brett Ratner (noooooooo), who are both angling the director's chair. This is still pretty early on and nobody is officially attached but already it's obvious that this is going to be a major project. [TheWrap]

* Yeah, Horrible Bosses 2 is still happening, and now it has an actual boss. Last week we learned that Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine were being sought to play a father/son duo of douche bag bosses, and now Pine is officially on board. Waltz never really seemed to be in the picture because of scheduling, which is good because this movie might be terrible. And he's played enough villains. Horrible Bosses 2 arrives November 26, 2014 directed by Sean Anders and bringing back stars Charlie Day, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Jamie Foxx. [Variety]

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Charlie Hunnam the Latest Rumored for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

After what seems like every name in Hollywood mentioned at one point or another to star in Fifty Shades of Grey, the flurry of rumors suddenly came to a halt once Sam Taylor-Johnson came aboard as director. It's possible that producers have decided to stop putting feelers out on the Internet to see who fans prefer (you know that's what they were doing) for the roles of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, and have begun to start taking things a little more seriously. And at least if the latest story is true, they've already got their sights set on an actor who helped save the world this summer.

The latest name to emerge for the Christian Grey role in the "mommy porn" adaptation is Pacific Rim star Charlie Hunnam, who Twitch says is producers' "prime target". Hunnam and his chiseled bod join a list of other possible contenders that have included Armie Hammer, Michael Fassbender (seriously), Garrett Hedlund, Ian Somerhalder and more. So who would Hunnam be enforcing his sexual dominance over, exactly? Actresses up for Anastasia Steele have included Emma Watson, Shailene Woodley, Felicity Jones, and most recently Alicia Vikander, but nothing seems close to being confirmed at this point.

To those unfamiliar with the novel it may come as a surprise that there are...*shocker*...other characters besides the two we keep hearing about. Digital Spy says that model and Anna Karenina actress Cara Delevingne has auditioned for a supporting role that may have been written just for her.

'50 Shades' casting gets debated more than Marvel movies, yet isn't nearly as interesting. I'll be happy when they just decide and get this shit over with. Still no word on when filming begins but producers are eying an August 2014 release.

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