Bryan Cranston & Edgar Ramirez Head to Errol Morris' 'Holland, Michigan'

Way back in 1991, Errol Morris made his only narrative directorial effort, an adaptation of The Dark Wind. Ever since he's continued to focus on the many investigative documentaries for which he has become synonymous. But a return to narrative films is on the way with Holland, Michigan, and now he's just added two big names to join the already-cast Naomi Watts.

While on Reddit talking about Oscar-nominated documentary The Act of Killing, for which he is a producer, Morris revealed that he's cast Bryan Cranston and Edgar Ramirez in Holland, Michigan. Andrew Sodroski's Black List script has Watts as a woman who begins an affair after suspecting that her husband has been cheating, only to learn that he's actually a serial killer. Oops!

Described as a combination of dark comedy and thriller, this should be right in Morris' wheelhouse, and obviously the cast is superb. Filming on Holland, Michigan begins this April.

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Powerful trailer for Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary 'The Act of Killing'

Hailed as a remarkable achievement in documentary filmmaking, enough to warrant Werner Herzog and Errol Morris putting their good names on it, Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing not only explores the actions of violent men, it could completely change the way we look at movie violence. It deals with men like Anwar Congo, who in 1965 Indonesia went from being a petty crook to the leader of a death squad, responsible for the deaths of upwards of  1 million people in the wake of a failed political coup. All these years later, Congo and his men are considered heroes and celebrities rather than war criminals, and Oppenheimer's film boldly challenges them to confront their pasts.

In the film's newly-released trailer, we see the mechanism by which Oppenheimer plans to study these genocidal figures. Perhaps due to their previous love of American cinema, they agree to recreate their brutal killings in the form of their favorite genres of film. Some choose musicals, some select what appear to be comedies and horrors, but they are all deeply disturbing to watch. Most chilling of all is the reaction by Congo, who doesn't seem to completely grasp the damage he has caused until it's way too late. How much of this will be a personal journey of redemption for him is unclear, but I can't wait to find out.

The Act of Killing opens on July 19th.

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Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, Christopher Walken, and Kristen Wiig join Errol Morris' 'Freezing People is Easy'

You want to know why Kristen Wiig doesn't give two sh*ts about Bridesmaids 2? It's because she's working with better filmmakers on stuff that sounds out of this world and will only make her a better actress. A sequel to her hit comedy may bring more cash, but she won't have the chance to say she worked with somebody like famed documentary filmmaker, Errol Morris.

Back in July we learned that Paul Rudd was set to join Morris' cryogenics comedy, We Froze the First Man. The film is based on a book by Bob Nelson, who along with his colleagues in the Life Extension Society, took up the practice of freezing people as a possible means of cheating death. Their first test subject was a James Bedford who remains frozen to this day to the best of my knowledge, albeit in a different facility. If the whole idea sounds pretty far out, just note that it springs from the mind of Zach Helm, writer of the meta-comedy Stranger Than Fiction.

Deadline reports that Wiig is now circling a role, with Christopher Walken and Owen Wilson all but locked to be joining Rudd in the film now titled Freezing People Is Easy. Much better title, in my humble opinion. It's been more than twenty years since Morris has directed anything other than a documentary, and he looks to be pulling out all of the stops to make sure this one is a much bigger success than the last time.

Production should kick off in the middle of the year. While you wait, do yourself a favor and check out Morris' last film, Tabloid.

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Sure Shots: The Lone Ranger; Paul Rudd; Chris Pine wanted for Robocop reboot?

* Shooting on director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp's The Lone Ranger is set to begin in just a couple of months, but casting is still pretty shallow. Depp has been down as Tonto for ages, and Armie Hammer is set to play the masked gunslinger. Tom Wilkinson is in talks for a role, but where the ladies at? Deadline reports that Ruth Wilson, best known for her role in the Idris Elba crime procedural, Luther, has won the prime female role. She beat out both Jessica Chastain(The Tree of Life) and Abbie Cornish(Sucker Punch) for the gig.

* Paul Rudd has joined famed documentarian Errol Morris's adaptation of We Froze the First Man, based on Robert Nelson's memoir. Nelson was president of the Cryogenics Society of California, and took part in the first use of cryogenics to freeze a recently deceased human being. The story will also draw from a story featured on This American Life. The show's host, Ira Glass, is on board as a producer. Zach Helm(Stranger Than Fiction) wrote the script. [The Washington Post]

* Chris Pine(Star Trek, Unstoppable) is apparently at the top of MGM's wishlist to star in their upcoming Robocop reboot. Part of their pre-packaged plan of rehashing all of their popular 80s flicks, they made a smart move in signing Jose Padilha(Elite Squad 2) to direct. Pine is probably never going to be more in demand than he is right now, so signing him could be a smart move. However this is all speculation, and no deals have been made. I'm sure Pine's name is just one of many under consideration. [Twitch]

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