Jared Leto Eyes 'Brilliance'; Victor Ortiz Laces Up for 'Southpaw'; Emilia Clarke Joins 'Voice from the Stone'

* When Will Smith dropped out of the sci-fi adaptation Brilliance, basically to star in Ridley Scott's untitled concussion drama, it left a big starpower gap left to be filled. Neither Noomi Rapace or director Julius Onah could do it, but maybe Oscar-winner Jared Leto can? Leto is being sought to replace Smith in the film, based on Marcus Sakey's book set in a world where a small group of people known as "brilliants" are born with extraordinary powers. Leto would play a gifted federal agent who uses his powers to track down another brilliant trying to start a civil war through terrorist acts. [Deadline]

*Former welterweight champ Victor Ortiz is bringing his boxing expertise to Southpaw, the Antonie Fuqua-directed drama on the sweet science. Jake Gyllenhaal will star as a leftie boxer who climbs the championship ranks while his personal life falls apart. Rachel McAdams and Forest Whitaker co-star, with Ortiz as a flyweight with real sparring potential. Ortiz will be seen later this year in The Expendables 3. Boxers who become solid actors are a rarity, but Ortiz's career is already better than what Fernando Vargas was able to put together. [Deadline]

* Between Game of Thrones and Terminator reboot Emilia Clarke probably doesn't have a lot of time for much else, and yet that hasn't stopped her from joining the psychological thriller, Voice from the Stone.  Eric D. Howell will make his directorial debut on the adaptation of Silvio Raffo's book La Voce Della Pietra, which is set in the 1950s and follows "a nurse who is helping a boy through the trauma of his mother’s sudden death. As she works with the troubled child, she becomes ensnared by a malevolent force inside the family’s castle." Why doesn't she just summon one of her dragons?  Filming is set to begin this fall. [THR]

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Ronda Rousey and Victor Ortiz Join 'The Expendables 3'

It looks like Sylvester Stallone has begun a youth movement for The Expendables 3, perhaps deciding it was best to get the median age somewhere down into the low 40s.  Earlier today we learned that Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz had joined the cast of veteran action heroes, and now Stallone has taken to Twitter to announce two more additions, both with some serious real-life butt kicking credentials.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey and welterweight boxer Victor Ortiz have joined the film, which is rumored to have Stallone's "Dirty Dozen" squaring off against a team of tech savvy youngsters, although they eventually unite to stop a bigger threat. Rousey is following in the footsteps of fellow MMA star Gina Carano, who has quickly become one of the preeminent genre stars.

Not that there was ever any doubt, but Jason Statham has been confirmed to return, and Arnold Schwarzenegger "will be back", as well. While it sounds like Mel Gibson has yet to be signed as the villain, despite recent claims to the otherwise, it's expected that he will join along with Milla Jojovich, Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes, and Jackie Chan.  The Expendables 3 hits theaters on August 15th 2014.

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