Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – August 13, 2009

This week:

Another actor takes a bite out of Twilight’s Eclipse; we have an update on Cowboys and Aliens; Colin Farrell + Mermaids= Ondine, Zac Efron finds a mother and David Mamet gets Frank.

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1. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse keeps adding cast members: Jack Huston and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) have both joined the cast of the teenage vampire flick.

According to The Hollywood Reporter regarding Huston:

“Huston will play Royce King II, a human that lived during the Great Depression.”

It sounds like a role that the young actor can sink his teeth into.

Bloody-Disgusting is reporting that Moreno will play the vampire Maria, who tries to create an army of “newborn vampires.”

Big job for a small woman.

Huston and Moreno join Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Bryce Dallas Howard in the big screen adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel.

Huston will next be seen on TV in Eastwick, the small screen series based on the hit 1980’s Jack Nicholson starrer.

Eclipse is being helmed by David Slade (30 Days of Night) and starts shooting next week in Vancouver for a June 30, 2010 release (they better work fast).

Source: The Hollywood Reporter & Bloody-Disgusting

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2. The ever-busy Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have given an update on the adaptation of the graphic novel Cowboys and Aliens, which they wrote with Lost creator Damon Lindelof.

Orci said:

“We’re just literally waiting to hear if they hate it or what. We’re waiting to hear from the principals. We try not to turn it in until we think it’s ready. Obviously, there are always things you can improve.”

When asked if Robert Downey Jr was still attached Orci said:

“He’s one of the busiest men on the face of the Earth. If the schedule can line up, we’d absolutely love it.”

It sounds like there’s still a chance of having Downey Jr appearing – but if Sherlock Holmes is a hit then he’ll be juggling two franchises (the other obviously being Iron Man) so he might not want to do another big-budget film in between.

Time will tell.

Source: MTV

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3.  Colin Farrell has been keeping a low profile recently but late 2009 and 2010 seem to be lined up with quite a few films starring the Irishman.

There’s obviously Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Triage and Neil Jordan’s Ondine.

Ondine is “lyrical modern fairy tale” about an Irish fisherman who catches what he believes to be a mermaid in his net. Polish actress Alicja Bachleda plays the mermaid.

First Showing nabbed a few images from the film – check out a few below.

Ondine is directed by Neil Jordan, the Irish director behind The Crying Game, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and The Brave One. I feel that Jordan’s vision often out-weighs his talent – so here’s hoping that the final plot is as interesting as the premise.

You can head over to First Showing to see a few more pictures.

Source:: First Showing

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4. Kim Basinger is in negotiations to join tween heart-throb Zac Efron in The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud.

According to Variety:

“Basinger would play the grieving mother of Efron’s character, a caretaker at a cemetery who has weekly meetings with a younger brother whose accidental death he feels was his fault.”

I think that I’ll give this one a pass.

Source: Variety

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5. Famed screenwriter David Mamet (The Untouchables) is planning to write and direct a new film version of The Diary of Anne Frank for Disney.

The film will be based on Frank’s diary; Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich’s stage play and new material written by Mamet.

It might not make a whole lot of money – but I can imagine that this will be an Oscar contender.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.