• This Week in Casting: Taylor Lautner, Channing Tatum, Robert Downey Jr. & More

    By Ben Pearson • May 18, 2012 at 2:49 PM


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    Welcome back to another edition of “This Week in Casting,” the column that gives you the rundown of who’s attached to the hottest upcoming projects in Hollywood. From big time players to fresh-faced rookies, we’ve got the week in review for you right here. This week, we’ve got casting news about Taylor Lautner, Channing Tatum, Amy Adams, and many more. Get all the details below!

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    BIG NAMES
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    Taylor Lautner will star in a parkour action thriller called Tracers

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    The movie: Lautner will play a NYC bike messenger who crashes into a sexy stranger who leads him into the world of parkour. He uses those skills to escape an organized crime gang, which are out to get him.
    Other projects: He’s finishing off the Twilight franchise this year with Breaking Dawn – Part 2, and he’s also starring opposite Adam Sandler in Grown Ups 2.
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    Channing Tatum set to star in White House Down

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    The movie: Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) is returning to Washington for another action movie, this one about a Secret Service agent who has to protect the President during a hostile takeover of the White House.
    Other projects: He’ll disrobe for Steven Soderbergh’s stripper story based on Tatum’s life story, Magic Mike.
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    Amy Adams as the lead in psychological drama called Dark Places

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    The movie: When she was 7, Libby Day (Adams) survived a brutal massacre of her family and testified in court that her brother was the killer. 25 years later, a secret society comes to her and say they believe her brother is innocent, prompting Libby to rethink the traumatic events that happened all those years ago to search for the truth.
    Other projects: She’ll appear in Clint Eastwood’s baseball movie, Trouble with the Curve, as well as taking on the role of Lois Lane in Zack Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel.
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    Robert Downey, Jr. and Tom Cruise co-starring in a comedy called El Presidente

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    The movie: An overzealous Secret Service agent (Cruise) has to protect the America’s worst former-President (Downey), a bumbling sleazy mess. When an attempt is made on his life, things really heat up. Both of these guys are in talks for their respective roles, and nothing has been signed quite yet.
    Other projects: Cruise stars in Rock of Ages this summer, and Downey starts shooting Iron Man 3 at the end of this month.
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    Chris Pine starring in a comedy called Mantivities

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    The movie: Pine wrote the script with his real-life friends, and the story follows a group of guys who try to teach their friend, a former child star, about life and responsibility.
    Other projects: He’s taking on the role of Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ anticipated Star Trek sequel, Star Trek 2.
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    Mickey Rourke and Nicolas Cage co-starring in action noir Marble City

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    The movie: Another stylized revenge story, this one stars Cage as a man recently released from prison who goes on the hunt for the man who put him behind bars. It will feature a ton of action and close combat, and is being compared to Kill Bill meets Drive.
    Other projects: Cage will reunite with Adaptation writer in Frank or Francis in 2013, and Rourke stars in the long-awaited Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
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    John Cusack will star in Grand Piano

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    The movie: Elijah Wood plays a piano genius who finally returns for a big performance after years of stagefright killed his creativity. But when he sits down, there’s a message on his music sheet that says he must play the best concert of his life, or he and his wife will be killed. There’s no specifics about who Cusack will play just yet, but I’m really hoping he’s the evil mastermind behind this ludicrous plot.
    Other projects: He’s starring opposite Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron in The Paperboy, which is playing at the Cannes Film Festival right now.
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    RISING STARS
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    Anthony Mackie joining Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake in Runner Runner

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    The movie: Timberlake plays a Princeton student who is cheated out of his tuition playing online poker, and Affleck plays the billionaire owner of the poker website. Mackie will play an FBI agent who’s spent years hunting Affleck’s character down.
    Where you might have seen him: He’s had great supporting roles in The Hurt Locker, The Adjustment Bureau, and Real Steel.
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    Max Greenfield starring in They Came Together

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    The movie: Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd play lovers in this parody of romantic comedies, which includes all of the cliched characters and storylines you’d expect (a knick knack store threatened by a big corporation, jealous exes, wise dogs, etc.), and Greenfield will play the lazy, couch-surfing younger brother.
    Where you might have seen him: He’s currently starring in the FOX TV series “New Girl,” but readers may also remember him as Veronica’s police officer boyfriend on the Kristen Bell series “Veronica Mars.”
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    Juno Temple joins the cast of Maleficent

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    The movie: This version of Sleeping Beauty is told from the perspective of the evil Maleficent (Angelina Jolie). Temple will play one of the three selfish fairies responsible for hiding Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) in the cottage in the woods.
    Where you might have seen her: She’s had smaller roles in a few films like Year One and Greenberg, but we’ll all get a chance to see her in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises.
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    Isabelle Fuhrman takes the lead in the remake of Suspiria

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    The movie: A remake of Daria Argento’s 1977 horror film, Suspiria follows a young girl in Europe who is enrolled in a famous dance school, only to find out the school is actually a secret coven of evil witches.
    Where you might have seen her: She played the role of Clove in The Hunger Games, but Fuhrman had her breakout performance in the 2009 horror movie Orphan.
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