This week in movie news:
10 hidden cameos you've never seen (see above); Edgar Wright shares Baby Driver behind-the-scenes photos; Aurora Perrineau joins the cast of Passengers; Fifty Shades Darker begins filming; Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper reunite for Hostiles; Jessica Chastain offered the lead in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut; Keira Knightley will play Catherine the Great in Barbara Streisand-directed film; Octavia Spencer joins the cast of Hidden Figures; Colonia gets a new trailer; Laurel & Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie lands additional financing; Keira Knightley-led biopic Collette sells to Hanaway Films; and Born to Be Blue gets a new trailer.
Edgar Wright shares Baby Driver behind-the-scenes photos
Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) has begun filming his latest film, Baby Driver, in Atlanta. The director -- whose last film was 2013 release The World's End -- has already shared a few behind-the-scenes photos from the set of the film via his Instagram page, mostly depicting elements of the set design for what is being described as a rock-and-roll car chase film.
Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) plays a getaway driver who ends up in hot water when a heist goes awry. The character reportedly relies on his own personal soundtrack to excel at his job, and Baby Driver is expected to feature a soundtrack of classic hits as a result. The film also stars Lily James, Jon Hamm and Kevin Spacey, and is set for release on March 17, 2017.
Source: Edgar Wright
Aurora Perrineau joins the cast of Passengers
Aurora Perrineau has landed a part in Passengers, the sci-fi drama starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. The actress will reportedly play the best friend of Lawrence's character in the film, which will be directed by Morten Tyldum (The Imitiation Game) and also features Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles.
In the past few years, Perrineau has appeared on television shows like Pretty Little Liars and Chasing Life, in addition to her roles in films such as the recent Jem and the Holograms and Kristen Stewart/Nicholas Hoult drama Equals. The plot of Passengers centers on two passengers aboard a spacecraft who awake from cryogenic sleep 90 years earlier than planned.
Source: THR
Fifty Shades Darker begins filming
Fifty Shades Darker -- the sequel to last year's mega-hit Fifty Shades of Grey -- has begun filming under director James Foley, it was announced by author E.L. James via her Instagram account. The film chronicles the continuing story of Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) as their relationship becomes even more complicated.
The first film managed to rein in $571 million at the worldwide box office against a production budget of only $40 million, and the two remaining chapters in James's trilogy are set to film back-to-back and released on February 10, 2017, and February 9, 2018, imitating the Valentine's Day release of their predecessor. Fifty Shades Darker will also star Oscar winner Kim Basinger, Luke Grimes, Eloise Mumford and Max Martini.
Source: E.L. James
Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper reunite for Hostiles
Christian Bale -- who is currently Oscar-nominated for his role in Adam McKay's The Big Short -- will reunite with writer/director Scott Cooper for his upcoming Western titled Hostiles. The pair previously collaborated on the 2013 thriller Out of the Furnace and had the opportunity to work together after Bale recently left Michael Mann's Enzo Ferrari biopic.
Hostiles centers on an Army captain who agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief and his family back to tribal lands and must rely on each other to make it from New Mexico to Montana. The film marks Cooper's first directorial effort following the release of Black Mass, the Johnny Depp-led biopic about notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger.
Source: Variety
Jessica Chastain offered the lead in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut
Jessica Chastain has been offered the lead role in Molly's Game, the upcoming film that will mark the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. The film tells the real-life story of Molly Bloom -- a former skiier who starts up a high-stakes poker game -- and is based on Bloom's memoir.
Chastain recently started her own production company and is reportedly mulling over the offer, though she is interested in the project due to the team behind it. The two-time Oscar nominee has appeared in several noteworthy films recently, including Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak and Ridley Scott's The Martian. She'll next appear in The Huntsman: Winter's War this April.
Source: The Wrap
Keira Knightley will play Catherine the Great in Barbara Streisand film
Keira Knightley is in talks to star as Russian empress Catherine the Great in a new film that will be directed by none other than Barbra Streisand. The film will be Streisand's first directorial feature in more than 20 years, and features a script that topped the Black List of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays back in 2014.
At this point it's unclear what the film's title will be, but its narrative centers on the years before her abusive husband was assassinated, forcing her to assume the throne. Knightley has already joined the ensemble cast of David Frankel's Collateral Beauty and has received two Oscar nominations in her career thus far, for Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game.
Source: The Wrap
Octavia Spencer joins the cast of Hidden Figures
Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer (The Help) has joined the cast of Hidden Figures, a new film based on Margot Lee Shetterly's upcoming book about the three female mathematicians who helped orchestrate the U.S. mission that sent astronaut John Glenn into orbit. Ted Melfi will direct the film as the follow-up to his 2014 comedy/drama St. Vincent.
Taraji P. Henson of Empire fame is already starring in the film as the lead mathematician, with Spencer as one of her colleagues. The third major female role has yet to be cast. Spencer has led a diverse career up to this point and has a number of other projects on the way, but her next big-screen appearance is in a voice role for Disney's Zootopia.
Source: Variety
Colonia gets a new trailer
Emma Watson's new film, Colonia, has received a new trailer ahead of its limited theatrical release on April 15, 2016, when the film will also be available through video-on-demand. Set in 1973, the film follows a young woman who tracks her missing husband to a mysterious village from which no one has escaped, a location that is home to a cult.
Colonia -- directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Florian Gallenberger -- made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival and was subsequently acquired for U.S. distribution by Screen Media Films. Daniel Brühl -- who will appear as Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War -- also stars in the film as Watson's husband, and Michael Nyqvist (John Wick) will play the leader of the village.
Source: Yahoo! Movies
Laurel & Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie lands additional financing
Stan & Ollie -- the upcoming biopic in which Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, respectively, will play legendary comic duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy -- has secured additional financing from eOne. The company's other upcoming projects include Gavin Hood's Eye in the Sky, Ricky Gervais' David Brent: Life on the Road, and Fabrice Du Welz's Message from the King.
The film will follow Laurel and Hardy during the late phase of their long-running partnership, as they embark on a variety hall tour in 1953. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jeff Pope -- who co-wrote Philomena with Coogan -- penned the project, which will be directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth). There's been no word just yet on the film's anticipated production and release schedule.
Source: The Wrap
Keira Knightley-led biopic Colette sells to Hanaway Films
Upcoming biopic Colette -- which stars Keira Knightley as the French novelist best known for writing the 1944 novella Gigi -- has been sold off to Hanway Films, an independent British sales, distribution and marketing company specializing in features. The project, directed by filmmaker Wash Westmoreland, proved to be a coveted one at the European Film Market this year.
Westmoreland co-wrote the script for Colette with the late Richard Glatzer, as the pair previously co-wrote and co-directed Oscar-winning Julianne Moore drama Still Alice. Production on the film is expected to begin in May in Budapest, Hungary. Knightley recently joined David Frankel's Collateral Beauty and may star as Catherine the Great in a film directed by Barbra Streisand (see above).
Source: Deadline
Born to Be Blue gets a new trailer
IFC Films has released a new trailer for Born to Be Blue, a new biopic in which Ethan Hawke stars as jazz legend Chet Baker. Robert Budreau directs the film based on his own screenplay, which blends fact and fiction to tell the story of Baker's attempt to stage a comeback in the later years of his career.
Born to Be Blue made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, where it earned positive reviews. Shortly thereafter, the film -- which also stars Carmen Ejogo, Callum Keith Rennie and Stephen McHattie -- was scooped up for U.S. distribution by IFC Films. Born to Be Blue is set to hit theaters on March 25, 2016, followed by video-on-demand on March 31.
Source: IFC Films