This week in movie news:
Justin Theroux will replace Chris Evans in The Girl on the Train; the live-action Micronauts film is getting a rewrite; George Clooney will direct the Joel and Ethan Coen-scripted crime drama Suburbicon; Michelle Rodriguez is set to star in action thriller Tomboy; M. Night Shyamalan's new thriller has a title and release date; Kristen Stewart and Chloë Sevigny will star in a new movie about ax murderer Lizzie Borden; a new trailer has been released for The Lady in the Van; Michael Mann's Enzo Ferrari biopic starring Christian Bale has secured funding and distribution; Ryan Reynolds is in final negotiations to star in Truth in Advertising; and Kingsman: The Secret Service star Sofia Boutella joins The Coldest City.
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Justin Theroux is in negotiations to join the cast of The Girl on the Train, the upcoming film adaptation of the best-selling Paula Hawkins novel. The actor would step into the role vacated by Chris Evans, who had to depart the project due to a scheduling conflict. Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Leto, Haley Bennett and Edgar Ramirez are all attached to star.
Directed by Tate Taylor (The Help), the film centers on a troubled woman -- played by Blunt -- who witnesses a murder, and Theroux will play her character's ex-husband. The actor currently stars in the HBO drama The Leftovers and is also a successful screenwriter, whose credits include Tropic Thunder, Rock of Ages and the forthcoming Zoolander 2. The Girl on the Train is set for release on October 7th, 2016.
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Screenwriter Tom Wheeler (Puss in Boots) has been brought to work on the live-action Micronauts film over at Paramount. The film will be adapted from the popular Hasbro sci-fi toy line, though no other story details have been revealed just yet. In addition, there's no word on cast or crew of the project.
Paramount has been developing a Micronauts film for years, and the studio has also set Wheeler on another high-profile adaptation. He is confirmed to work on the live-action version of hit Nickelodeon series Dora the Explorer.
Source: Deadline
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George Clooney is in talks to direct Suburbicon, a film noir written by Joel and Ethan Coen. The movies is reportedly a crime drama set in the 1950s, thought there are no other story details at this early stage. It's unclear if Clooney would only direct or if he would star as well. No other cast or crew have been announced.
If Clooney does board the project, it would only be the latest in a long string of collaborations between the actor/director and the Coens. He previously starred in the brothers' films O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty and Burn After Reading. Next year, Clooney will also be prominently featured in the upcoming Coen brothers comedy Hail, Caesar!.
Source: Deadline
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Michelle Rodriguez will headline Tomboy, A Revenger's Tale for director Walter Hill (The Warriors). In the action film, the Fast & Furious star will play a male assassin who is double-crossed by gangsters and falls into the hands of a rogue surgeon who turns him into a woman. Sigourney Weaver is already onboard to play the the villainous doctor.
The film will mark the first starring vehicle for Rodriguez in a long while, as she has stuck mostly with ensemble projects in recent years. Tomboy previously had Slumdog Millionaire actress Frieda Pinto attached, but she has long since left the project. Filming begins on November 9th in Vancouver.
Source: THR
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Universal Pictures has announced that M. Night Shyamalan's next film is titled Split. The film will see the writer/director reteaming with Blumhouse Productions, with whom he worked on this year's The Visit. No plot details are known about Split, but the supernatural thriller will hit theaters on January 20th, 2017.
James McAvoy will star in the film, along with Anya Taylor Joy, Betty Buckley, Jessica Sula and Haley Lu Richardson. Split is currently the only film scheduled for release during its announced week, and it is expected to be similarly low-budgeted as The Visit, which cost only $5 million to produce.
Source: Deadline
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Kristen Stewart and Chloë Sevigny will star in a new, as-yet-untitled psychological thriller about ax murderer Lizzie Borden, who killed her family in 1892. Pieter Van Hees -- who directed the 2014 film Waste Land -- will helm the film, in which Sevigny will play Borden and Stewart will take on the role of the Bordens' live-in maid who may have been in the home during the murders.
The story of Borden's crimes has been adapted numerous times over the years, but the most recent incarnation was a 2014 television movie that starred Christina Ricci as the killer herself. Sevigny -- a Golden Globe-winning actress -- was previously attached to a Borden project over at HBO. She currently stars on the FX series American Horror Story: Hotel.
Source: THR
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Sony Pictures Classics has released a new trailer for The Lady in the Van, a new big-screen adaptation of the 1999 play by Alan Bennett. Bennett also wrote the film version, a true story centering on an elderly woman who lived in a van in Bennett's own driveway for 15 years. Maggie Smith stars as Mary Shepherd, the titular character at the heart of the film.
Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George) will direct the film, which also features Alex Jennings (as Bennett himself), Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper and James Corden. Hytner directed the original production of the play, which also starred Smith. The role won her critical acclaim and a Best Actress nomination at the 2000 Olivier Awards. The Lady in the Van will be released on December 4th, 2015.
Source: Sony Pictures Classics
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Paramount Pictures has signed on to distribute Enzo Ferrari, the upcoming biopic from director Michael Mann. The film will cover a year in the life of tthe Italian auto magnate, with Oscar-winner Christian Bale leading the film. Production will begin in summer 2016 in Italy, and the project will receive funding from Vendian Entertainment and YooZoo Bliss Film Fund.
The film's development mirrors Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, another Paramount release. Mann has worked for 15 years to make the film -- based on the Brock Yates book "Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races" -- finally come together. Set in 1957, it documents a particularly harrowing challenge Ferrari faced during his life and career.
Source: Deadline
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Ryan Reynolds is in final negotiations to star in comedy/drama Truth in Advertising, which will be introduced to international distributors at the upcoming American Film Market. Directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill), the film centers on an advertising executive who begins to question why his life isn't progressing when his boss asks him to cancel his Christmas vacation to work on an ad campaign.
Filming is set to begin in mid-2016 for the film, written by John Kenney based on his own 2013 novel of the same name. Like the novel, the film version of Truth in Advertising is expected to comment on corporate culture and society's obsession with consumerism. Reynolds will next appear in the highly anticipated Fox release Deadpool, based on the Marvel character.
Source: The Solution Entertainment Group
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The Coldest City has added Kingsman: The Secret Service costar Sofia Boutella to the cast. She will appear in the film alongside Charlize Theron (who is also producing) and James McAvoy in the David Leitch-directed (John Wick) spy thriller based on the Oni Press graphic novel by Antony Johnston. Production begins on November 16th in Budapest.
The story centers on an spy (Theron) who must find a list of agents that a fallen MI6 officer was smuggling into the country prior to his death, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. No details on Boutella's character have thus far been confirmed. However,Boutella will also be featured in the 2016 release Star Trek Beyond, the third entry in the rebooted sci-fi franchise.
Source: The Wrap