You read right: Robert Downey Jr. is no longer attached to the sci-fi epic Gravity, which if you’ve been reading Player Affinity at all, you know we’ve been following every step of the way. The official news comes from The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision Blog, which also reports on his possible involvement with How to Talk to Girls.
Tom Hardy is reportedly playing Dr. Hugo Strange in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. The actor, most notable for his role in Nolan’s Inception, has already been confirmed as having a leading role in the film; Batman-News got the scoop from “a seemingly reliable source.”
Antoine Fuqua is negotiating with Relativity Media to direct an adaptation of Afterburn, a sci-fi comic series that centers on treasure hunters hunt and takes place one year after of the earth’s surface is incinerated by a solar flare.
This week’s releases are a real mix of the sublime, the ridiculous and the cash-ins. We get the release of a critically acclaimed indie film, the extended version of the world’s highest grossing film and the continuing tragic decline of a once-promising filmmaker. On the re-release front there is a wide range of classic films and some animated features (which also see the rise of 3D Blu-ray releases).
With David O. Russell’s abrupt departure in favor of the “Uncharted” adaptation, the director’s chair for Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, the upcoming adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel of the same name, has been the hottest job to get in Hollywood. Now, Deadline has it that after meeting with several directors, Lionsgate has closed a deal to have Mike White (Year of the Dog) take over the project.
In tandem with Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar has arguably become the sole film studio that both impresses the critics and delights moviegoers the world over with its films. Despite the slight critical fumble the studio made with Cars, Pixar decided to give it a sequel due to its box office success.
Megamind maintained its reign at the box office for the second week in a row. The animated comedy about a bigheaded bad guy was a hit Saturday with the children. Although it hid behind Unstoppable and that runaway train on Friday, the movie regained its strength with big family crowds and vastly outdid all new competition. Megamind collected $30 million ending in a total tally of nearly $90 million from weekend to weekend. Newcomer Unstoppable freighted $23.5 million in U.S. Currency.
Colin Farrell was offered the leading role in Len Wiseman’s upcoming remake of Total Recall this past week. Since the offer, the Golden Globe winner has been in negotiations to take the role.
Variety reports that this film will modernize “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” the Philip K. Dick story that inspired the original film, and assuming that all goes swiftly in the negotiation process, Farrell should do great work in this project.
From the file of “Things That Cannot Possibly Be Real but We’ll Talk About It Anyways!” comes an extreme rumor that longtime friends and collaborators Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci may be reteaming for the first time in years. The kicker of the rumor? Roger Friedman of Showbiz411 has it (wrong) that the film to bring them together would be David O. Russell’s adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Christopher Nolan is reportedly casting two actresses for leading roles in The Dark Knight Rises and will be meeting with the following six for this casting: Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, and Rachel Weisz.
