David O. Russell Wants Scarlett Johansson For ‘Uncharted’ Movie

It seems most everybody wants Scarlett Johansson (keep reading…) to star in their next film, and David O. Russell is no exception. The Fighter filmmaker is in the midst of developing his Uncharted adaptation and has mentioned the blonde bombshell as being on his wish list to star.

Fans of the original PS3 title Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune have been vocal about their displeasure concerning Russell’s decision to cast Mark Wahlberg or deviate significantly from the game’s plot by adding a family dynamic. Bringing Miss Johansson onboard, however, is one move that’s unlikely to upset them too much.

Uncharted protagonist and treasure-plunderer Nathan Drake (Wahlberg) is accompanied on his adventures by the reporter/journalist Elena Fisher – the role Johansson would play. Miss Fisher is not only a match for Drake in terms of spirit and sheer gusto, but she is also (unrealistically?) capable in combat – and, of course, easy on the eyes. After watching Johansson disassemble a team of security guards with naught but her hands (and thighs) in Iron Man 2, one would be hard pressed to argue that she can’t handle a part like that.

Russell mentioned the Lost in Translation star as someone he’d like to see play Elena while chatting with Empire, and also cited his Fighter actress Amy Adams as another potential candidate – if he gets his way. On the topic of the Uncharted female lead, the offbeat auteur had this to mention as well:

“Ah, Elena. I’ve cultivated her quite a bit and I think I’ve added a lot of dimension to her so that’s all I’m going to say. I love the woman characters and the more robust they are, the more robust the movie … there’s [sic] a lot of greater [actresses] I think might suit. Hopefully, we’ll see how it works out with everybody who are being scoped to do that role…”

Could Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams reunite for 'Uncharted'?

Johansson is currently busy filming Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo and has The Avengers to tackle soon thereafter, so her immediate availability is limited. The actress has long been rumored as a possibility to star in Lionsgate’s Regency-era splatterfest, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and may still be “loosely attached” to appear in another romance/undead mashup, Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament as well. So the chances that Russell will get her onboard for Uncharted are rather slim right now.

Someone like Adams would also be quite fun to watch play a rough n’ ready gal in the vein of Indiana Jones love interest Marion Ravenwood. The multiple Oscar-nominee shed her cutesy image with her foul-mouthed turn in The Fighter. Would other moviegoers like to see her work with Russell again ?

Wahlberg previously mentioned that Uncharted could begin shooting this summer, but Russell is reportedly also looking into making the comic book flick 2 Guns first. Stay tuned for more information in the near future.

Who do you want to see play Elena in Uncharted?

BONUS: For more info on the Uncharted video game series and the characters that appear in it, head over to Game Rant.

Source: Empire

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Christopher Lee Will Return for ‘The Hobbit,’ plus More David Tennant Rumors

Hot on the heels of the news that Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, and Ian McKellen will reunite with director Peter Jackson for The Hobbit, we have some more casting information from Middle Earth.

According to Sir Christopher Lee’s official website, the 88-year-old actor will appear in The Hobbit to reprise his role as the wizard Saruman, as long as “he is in good health.” We haven’t heard that Lee is experiencing any particular health issues (and we certainly hope that continues to be the case) so this sounds like strong confirmation.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read The Hobbit, but I don’t recall Saruman being featured in the book. Nevertheless, when you have a thespian like Lee onboard, your movie is going to be markedly improved, so I’m all for it. After all, Jackson and company changed around many of the plot details for each Lord of the Rings film, and they are modern classics.

In addition to Christopher Lee’s likely return, there are also fresh rumors that former Doctor Who star David Tennant will join the cast of The Hobbit. In the past, Tennant was rumored to be up for a number of parts in The Hobbit, including the main role of Bilbo Baggins back in 2009, before Martin Freeman was cast in the film.

Now, according to an unsubstantiated rumor at MovieWeb, Tennant has allegedly joined the cast of The Hobbit as the Elf King Thranduil. Thranduil, for those not up on their Tolkien mythology, is also the father of Legolas (played by Orlando Bloom in Lord of the Rings). MovieWeb doesn’t say where it got the information about Tennant’s involvement in the film, but if Thranduil were in the film, it would make sense since Bloom was confirmed to be reprising his role as Legolas in December.

As The Hobbit continues to take shape, the project is beginning to sound more and more epic. I may just have to watch Lord of the Rings back-to-back-to-back to stave off my excitement.

The Hobbit: Part 1 hits theaters on December 19th, 2012. Part 2 comes out in December 2013.

Source: MovieWeb and Christopher Lee’s Website (via The One Ring)

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Trent Reznor Scoring David Fincher’s ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’

Even scenes of Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow computer nerds, typing away endless amounts of programming code in The Social Network, have an inexplicably engaging feel and almost music video style rhythm to their design. That was due in no small part to the ominous, electronica score co-composed by Trent Reznor, who’s now onboard for David Fincher’s new project -- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Fincher is currently filming his English-language adaptation of the first entry in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium books overseas in Stockholm. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will technically mark the filmmaker’s third joint effort with Reznor, whose wrote the song “Closer,” as featured in Seven -- along with the score for Fincher’s Facebook movie.

Reznor (aka the one-man band Nine Inch Nails) revealed that he will provide musical cues for the  Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake while talking to The New York Times as part of their Times Talks series. There’s no word yet as to whether Reznor’s collaborator on the Social Network score, Atticus Ross, will be involved with Fincher’s new project as well, but it certainly seems like a good idea to have the two work together on another film that examines the darker side of human nature and society.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo follows the titular character, gothic hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), and the indicted investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) as they eventually join forces to uncover the truth behind a 40-year old mystery that involves possibly murderous members of an upper-class Swedish clan.

Just watch the opening from Fincher’s Seven -- which feature’s Reznor’s “Closer” -- below to get a feel for the potential audio/visual design of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:

Larsson’s Noirish source material seem like a perfect fit for both Fincher and Reznor’s often sinister style and the moody atmopshere of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will undoubtedly benefit from a stylishly dark aesthetic. This news should only help to further convince skeptical fans that this second cinematic version of the tale might turn out okay after all.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hits theaters in the U.S. on December 21st, 2011.

Source: The New York Times (via @Brotodeau and Cinema Blend)

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Paul Giamatti May Join David Cronenberg’s ‘Cosmopolis’

If Cosmopolis – a story about a 28 year-old billionaire who takes a jaunt across town just to get a haircut from a proper barber and ends up blowing his fortune – sounds peculiar, just remember it’s being brought to life by the guy who made movies about mutant children, evil gynecologists, and Jeff Goldblum as a giant insect.

David Cronenberg is the man behind the Cosmopolis film adapation and he’s already lined up Colin Farrell and Marion Cotillard to star in the film. Now it seems that Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti may sign up for this strange cautionary tale as well.

According to The Playlist, Giamatti’s rep says that the actor is in active discussions to join the cast of Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, but denies that a deal has been secured. The John Adams star signed on for The Hangover 2 recently, but his upcoming schedule is otherwise fairly open. Cosmopolis is unlikely to begin production for few months anyway, since shooting on the Total Recall remake is tentatively scheduled to begin by Spring 2011 and that could keep Farrell busy for the next while.

Cronenberg is currently in the midst of post-production on his latest collaboration with actor Viggo Mortensen, the Sigmund Freud pic A Dangerous Method, which will also prevent Cosmopolis from beginning production in the immediate future.

Cosmopolis is an unorthodox horror tale that deals with the transformation of a character’s existence (a theme Cronenberg has explored throughout his filmmaking career) over the course of a single day. Farrell is set to play Eric Packer, the rich protagonist who cheats on his wife (Cotillard), is attacked by a bizarre assortment of individuals (stalkers, protesters, etc.), and finds his life spinning utterly out of control as his fortunes start to dwindle away.

No word yet on who Giamatti would portray in Cosmopolis or if he’ll play a central or supporting role in the film, but he’s a flexible character actor who can portray anything from a hammy, guns-blazing villain (Shoot ‘Em Up) to an officer of the law in a period piece (The Illusionist) and still be convincing. We have little doubt that he is up for whatever Cronenberg throws at him.

It’s also good to see Cotillard getting more work and sticking with projects that involve quality filmmakers. She was good as Leonardo DiCaprio’s deceased wife in Inception, but hopefully the actress will get to play a larger and more fleshed-out part in Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis.

We’ll keep you posted on the development of Cosmopolis.

Source: The Playlist

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David O. Russell Talks ‘Uncharted’ Movie Plot

Offbeat autuer David O. Russell has tried his hand at a war movie, screwball comedy, and a real-life sports drama, the results of which have been memorable, if not to everyone’s tastes. So what exactly is his plan for the video game-turned movie Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune?

Russell previously expressed his desire for Uncharted to feature a Robert De Niro/Joe Pesci reunion and has now opened up about how exactly those two veteran thespians would fit into the globetrotting adventure pic.

Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he will play Nate Drake in Russell’s new project and revealed that the plan is for De Niro and Pesci to play his father and uncle, respectively. The L.A. Times sat down with Russell, who offered the following quote as the premise for his take on Uncharted (one that he says “really turns me on” – take that as you will):

“… There’s a family that’s a force to be reckoned with in the world of international art and antiquities … [a family] that deals with heads of state and heads of museums and metes out justice.

“We’ll have the family dynamic… And then you take that and put it on the bigger, more muscular stage of an international action picture, but also put all the character stuff in it. That’s a really cool idea to me.”

Family drama is very much at the forefront of Russell’s latest movie, this month’s much-buzzed-about pic, The Fighter – and there was certainly plenty of kin dysfunction in his 1996 comedy Flirting With Disaster as well. Russell’s approach to Uncharted also calls to mind Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which the titular archaeologist’s quest to recover the Holy Grail was all the more intriguing because of the dynamic between him and his old man, Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery).

Connery and Harrison Ford in the third Indiana Jones pic.

A lot of fans were left grumbling after Wahlberg won the lead role in Uncharted over Castle star Nathan Fillion, who arguably seems like a natural fit to play Drake, a quick-on-the-draw treasure plunderer with a sense of humor to boot. De Niro and Pesci’s potential involvement with the video game flick also left those familiar with the Uncharted-verse confused, since their classic wiseguy screen personas would feel rather out of place in that world.

Russell clearly has more than just a glorified cameo in mind for Drake’s family in Uncharted and he has yet to deliver a film that feels overly formulaic or run-of-the-mill. Could this be the first time a video game-turned cinematic venture turns out well – or at least better than satisfactory?

What do you think of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune so far?

Source: L.A. Times

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