Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, and Michael B. Jordan in Talks for 'Triple Nine'

Whatever criticisms one may have regarding John Hillcoat's Lawless, or any of his prior films for that matter, one thing he's always been able to do is piece together a great cast. He's slowly but steadily been doing the same for his long-brewing cop thriller, Triple Nine, and last summer we saw Charlie Hunnam come in to replace Shia LaBeouf, with Cate Blanchett and Christoph Waltz coming aboard. Now there's been some more shuffling at the top, but it also brings along two potential Oscar contenders.

Charlie Hunnam has now left the film, to be replaced by Casey Affleck who has had one heck of a year with Ain't them Bodies Saints and Out of the Furnace. He may be joined by Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan and Chiwetel Ejiofor of 12 Years a Slave, both figuring pretty heavily in the Best Actor race. The Black List-approved script by Matt Cook will have Affleck as a young and honorable LA cop who is marked for death by his crooked colleagues in order to distract from a heist they're planning. Jordan will play a good cop working with Affleck to infiltrate the group, while Ejiofor is a criminal behind the heist.

Sweet casting all around, and with Nick Cave likely to hook Hillcoat up with another fantastic score there's every reason to think Triple Nine will be something special. Filming is expected to begin next year.  [TheWrap]

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Charlie Hunnam Joins John Hillcoat's 'Triple Nine'; Cate Blanchett and Christoph Waltz in Talks

Lawless director John Hillcoat had been set to reteam with Shia LaBeouf on his next film, a cop thriller titled Triple Nine. Filming should have already taken place on it, but it never happened and LaBeouf is now out, but the good news is that he's been replaced by Pacific Rim star, Charlie Hunnam.

The title refers to the police code for when an officer is in immediate need of assistance, and the script by Matt Cook centers on a group of corrupt cops who must shoot one of their own to distract from a heist they're pulling off elsewhere. Hunnam would play the young, honorable cop they choose as their victim. As if the film didn't already sound promising, Christoph Waltz is in talks to play Hunnam's uncle who also happens to be on the force; and Cate Blanchett could take the juice role of the mobster's wife who is really pulling all of the strings.

Filming is expected to begin by the end of the year, as Hunnam must tackle Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak in early 2014.

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1st look at Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf in 'Lawless', formerly 'The Wettest County'

Now that we know Terrence Malick has allowed for John Hillcoat's adaptation of The Wettest County in the World to be renamed Lawless, we're also being treated to our first actual photo from the film. We've seen plenty of cool set photos, but EW(via ThePlaylist) now has an official shot featuring stars Shila LaBeouf and Tom Hardy. In it, we see just how imposing Hardy looks to next to the slight LaBeouf, who always looks like he's in dire straits. Doesn't matter what he's actually doing.

Based on the novel by Matt Bondurant, the grandson of one of the story's central trio of brothers, the Prohibition-era film follows them as they try to run their bootlegging business without interference by the Franklin County, Virginia authorities. LaBeouf, Hardy, and Jason Clarke play the Bondurant Brothers. Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, and Dane DeHaan make up what is a superb cast for one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year. While it will likely premier at the Venice International Film Festival, it'll open just a couple days later on August 31st.

I'm still curious about what Malick is going to do, though. Will he change the name of his music industry set film?

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*UPDATE* 'The Wettest County' now officially titled 'Lawless'; What will Terrence Malick do?

 *Update* Turns out, Terrence Malick gave The Wettest County producers his seal of approval to change the title to Lawless, even though he had a film with the same name. So I guess Malick's film is now untitled? [EW]  The original story is below...

This has been in the works for awhile now, but John Hillcoat's adaptation of The Wettest County in the World will now be titled Lawless. If that title sounds familiar, it's because Terrence Malick has been using it for one of his two films slated to shoot later this year. So either he's going to change it, or we're going to have a lot of confused folks.  Then again, Malick seems like the type who might stick to his guns on this.

The title change is being reflected on the film's press site and Facebook page, so we may see an official announcement made soon. The Prohibition era film features a script by Nick Cave, and stars Tom Hardy, Shia Labeouf, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Dane DeHaan, Jessica Chastain, and Mia Wasikowska.  It's expected to hit theaters on August 31st 2012. [ThePlaylist]

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