Filed under: Animation, Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek

World’s Finest has learned that Kevin Conroy will be the man behind the mask in Batman: Gotham Knight. Christian Bale was originally thought to be lending his voice to the animated feature, as it will be released alongside The Dark Knight.

Conroy did Batman’s voice in the wildly popular Batman: The Animated Series, so it makes for a nice bit of continuity there. And he won’t be turning in some weird Bale impersonation. I confess to being a bit disappointed, as I always think it’s cool when actors lend their voices to an animated tie-in. But this will probably delight everyone who hated Bale’s Batman growl.

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Filed under: Drama, Sports, Casting, RumorMonger

So before anyone gets too excited, we should probably all take a step back and consider whether we should be really taking the word of Mike Tyson. The scandal plagued boxer recently told the sports paper Review-Journal that “Me and Jamie Foxx are going to do a collaboration. He’s going to play me in my life story. We’ve talked about it many times.” Tyson was giving a pep-talk to troubled youngsters in Las Vegas. Not to be sarcastic, but it must have been a community service deal, since Tyson isn’t necessarily the best role model for staying out of trouble.

Jamie Foxx is rapidly becoming the go-to guy for real-life flicks. Foxx made a name for himself when he starred in the life story of famed gang leader (and peacemaker), Stan ‘Tookie’ Williams. Then, of course, was his Oscar-winning performance in Ray. Next up is another musical biopic, The Soloist with Catherine Keener, and then he has signed to play Earl Sanders in the real- life crime drama, The Zebra Murders.

One thing is for sure, there has been no shortage of drama in the life of the famed heavy weight, so there is plenty of material to work with. There have been accusations of spousal abuse, drug charges, assault charges, rape convictions, prison time, bankruptcy, and a conversion to Islam. Not to mention that whole ear-biting thing. So far there has been no word from Foxx about the project so only time will tell if this movie is anything more than wishful thinking on the part of Tyson. The only question is can Tyson handle airing his dirty laundry on the big screen?

Could you see Jamie Foxx as Mike Tyson?

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Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars, Pickups and Renewals, Ratings

Reality rules at ABC — or so it seems. Today the network announced that five “alternative” (their word, not mine) shows have been picked up for next season: Dancing with the Stars (no surprise), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (still no surprise), Supernanny (understandable), Wife Swap (not too unexpected) and America’s Funniest Home Videos (are you kidding me???).

Yes, yes, it’s true. Even in this era of YouTube, there’s an audience out there that still enjoys America’s Funniest Home Videos. ABC has booked it for an 18th season, making it the longest-running primetime show in the network’s history. Host Tom Bergeron will be back — natch — and more money will be awarded to the funniest videos, which are now DVDs.

Continue reading ABC renews five reality shows

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Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Celebrities

Mary Kate and Ashley continue to grow their media empire. They are working on a coffee table fashion book called Influence. It will be published by a division of the Penguin Group.

According to a statement issued Wednesday by Penguin, the book will include “exclusive photographs of Ashley and Mary-Kate from world renowned photographer Rankin, and a wide variety of other never-before-seen materials and interviews from Mary-Kate and Ashley’s personal collections.”

Continue reading Olsen twins working on a book. No, really.

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Filed under: Desperate Housewives, Spoilers Anonymous, Celebrities, Casting

The Desperate Housewives casting agents have been rather productive since the show resumed production last week. The question is will fans be happy when hearing their casting choices? The O.C.’s Chris Carmack, The West Wing’s Gary Cole and movie actress Julianne Moore will appear in the upcoming episodes of the series.

Spoilers about their roles after the jump!

Continue reading New crop of characters for Desperate Housewives

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Filed under: Casting, Fandom, Scripts

Not a whole lot going on in the way of movie news today (well, aside from that little New Line announcement …), so I thought I’d write about books instead. I just finished reading Magnus Mills’s The Restraint of Beasts, which supposedly has already been filmed by Pawel Pawlikowski but is apparently stuck in some kind of post-production limbo. The book is weirdly hilarious, enough so that I now want to read more by Mills.

I’m now reading Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods, which is hard to imagine as a movie, but I suppose it could be done if it was by the right director. Peter Jackson’s upcoming adaptation of The Lovely Bones still looks promising, perhaps even more so now that Saiorse Ronan, who he wisely cast as Susie Salmon, is now an Oscar-nominated actress for her performance in Atonement, but we’re going to have to wait until 2009 to see that one.

What books have you read of late that you think would make great films? Who would you want to see direct the adaptations and star in the main roles? Discuss away …

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Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek

Judging by how long other people stayed on board for the big-screen version of Astro Boy, I’m amazed they finally found the time to cast their lead. In a press release sent to Comics2Film, Imagi Entertainment announced that Freddie Highmore (of Spiderwick Chronicles fame) will voice Astro Boy in the feature film. Originally created by Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy was the story of a boy robot fighting crime and dealing with some personal ‘issues’ about reconciling his circuitry with his burgeoning humanity.

Director David Bowers was quoted as saying, “It’s terrific that Freddie has agreed to play Astro. He’s a remarkably skilled young actor, whose freshness and vitality make him perfect for the role. Astro Boy is a beloved superhero and has captured hearts around the globe for more than 50 years. I can’t wait to see where Freddie takes him.” Not to rain on their parade, but some of the same things were said about Colin Brady and Michael Lachance — look where they ended up.

It’s going to be a busy year for the young actor; he’s also currently working on the family flick, Eddie Dickens and the Awful End for Francis Lawrence. Highmore has been earning some good reviews for his performance in Chronicles, so I doubt that they will be replacing him anytime soon. Not bad for an actor that by the tender age of 16 has already worked with some of the biggest names in the business. Astro Boy is scheduled for release in 2009.

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Filed under: Horror, Casting

Have you ever seen a movie that featured an actor with physical abnormalities and wondered what the casting call for that role must have looked like? I mean, did they come out and SAY, “We need someone who looks like a freak”? And how does the actor feel about it?

Well, a couple days ago a casting notice went out for Shelter — a Julianne Moore/Jonathan Rhys Meyers thriller about to start filming in Pittsburgh — that began to answer those questions. It included a call for people to play West Virginia hillbillies. Specifically, they wanted “unusual body shapes, even physical abnormalities as long as there is normal mobility. Unusual facial features…. We are also looking for a … girl with an other-worldly look to her. Could be an albino or something along those lines…. ‘Regular-looking’ children should not attend this open call.”

The Pittsburgh-based casting director responsible for this, Donna Belajac, has now been fired — not because of the casting notice, but because of the uproar that followed her comments quoted in a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story on Tuesday: “Some of these ‘holler’ people — because they are insular and clannish, and they don’t leave their area — there is literally inbreeding, and the people there often have a different kind of look. That’s what we’re trying to get.”

Continue reading Casting Director Fired After Seeking Actors with That ‘Inbreeding’ Look

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Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, Casting

It’s a slow day today… But here are Variety’s latest casting bites:

• He’s been a Kim of Comedy, and lately he’s been playing around on The Real Wedding Crashers, but now actor and comedian Steve Byrne is getting a high-profile feature gig in The Goods: The Don Ready Story. Well, the film, not so much the role, although it could certainly prove to be memorable. He will play an irate customer at Jeremy Piven’s dealership. This is his second feature in the last year, as he’s also got a role in the indie comedy Don’t Shoot the Pharmacist! But for now, check out some of these links to see what the comedian is all about. Personally, I hope he’s an irate customer in pink short shorts.
• Earlier this month, I posted that Brittany Snow was joining Lee Toland Krieger’s indie film called The Vicious Kind. The film centers on a girl is targeted by her boyfriend’s obsessed older brother (to be played by Adam Scott) when she’s taken home for Thanksgiving. Now Alex Frost and J.K. Simmons have nabbed gigs in the film. While there is no word on who they’re going to play, let me go out on a limb and say Frost, who is a year younger than Snow, is the boyfriend, and Simmons is his dad. Frost got his start starring as Alex in Elephant, while Simmons is, of course, Spider-Man’s J. Jonah Jameson. For now, you can see the young actor in two upcoming films that hit screens next month — Stop Loss and Drillbit Taylor.

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Filed under: Animation, Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek

Yes, Watchmen is about retired superheroes in an alternate United States where a Doomsday Clock counts down to nuclear war and one of their own is murdered. But there’s also The Tales of the Black Freighter, a comic within a comic that details the adventures of a castaway and a phantom pirate ship. (Because, in a world where superheroes are real, who wants to read comics about them?) Since Zack Snyder already had a solid 130-140 page script without the Freighter material, it was decided that the story would become a special DVD feature.

Unsurprisingly, 300-star Gerard Butler’s name was immediately connected to the side project in rumors, and now, he’s finally confirming them. In a discussion with Empire, the actor says: “I’m going to do the voice of the captain. They’re going to do it in the style of a Japanese anime, and I’m totally stoked… It’s this decent into madness but explained in such a sane way that you totally feel it yourself. By the end, my heart was pumping!” Butler’s over-the-top romance with Hilary Swank may not have inspired the masses, but maybe a return to carnage will — one that will have him, or rather his anime character, making rafts out of gas-bloated bodies. Isn’t that crafty?

So, we’ve got Gerard’s voice leading the Freighter, and it will be done anime. Sound off, Watchmen fiends: Is Zack Snyder right on track with this, or do you think he’s off-base?

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