Coming off the one-two punch of Enemy and Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve has proven he can grab audiences in Hollywood, while still providing his unique style. For his next project he told us that he was gearing up to shoot the drug crime drama Sicario this summer, and now we have word on another one that will follow directly after.
Update: Variety reports Emily Blunt (Looper) will star in the aforementioned Sicario, but her role is unknown in the story that follows “an officer from Tucson, Arizona who travels across the border to Mexico with a pair of mercenaries to track down a drug lord.”
According to Deadline, Amy Adams is in talks to team with the director for the sci-fi thriller Story Of Your Life. Based on a short story by Ted Chiang, the helmer recently told Indiewire that it “deals with the poetry of words and the strength of language and how language contains your perception of the world. It’s really about a university linguist that is hired by the US government to try to translate the language of extra terrestrials that just landed on Earth. It’s very poetic, and a strong take on an alien landing on Earth. It’s very original, very fresh and very inspiring.” With production set to kick off early next year, hopefully it’ll see a release by the end of 2015.
With Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell set to make up the Fantastic Four for the upcoming reboot, they are going to need a villain to battle and today we have word on who it’ll be. Variety reports that Toby Kebbell has landed the role of Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom. While his blockbuster choices have been lacking (Wrath of Titans, Prince of Persia), he’s impressed in films such as RocknRolla, The East, and ever so briefly in The Counselor. With direction from Chronicle‘s Josh Trank, production begins shortly for a June 19th, 2015 release, and, of course, a sequel already is slated for 2017.
Next up, things are finally moving for the long-gestating boxing drama Southpaw. With Antoine Fuqua confirmed to direct The Weinstein Company project, Jake Gyllenhaal was recently set in the lead, and now The Wrap reports that Forest Whitaker will be joining the film as Titus ‘Tick’ Willis, a retired fighter with one eye that trains Gyllenhaal’s character, the rising boxer Billy ‘The Great’ Hope. Production kicks off this summer, based on the Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy) script, ahead of a likely 2015 release.
Lastly, an ensemble is coming together for the Black List project Cake, which originates from a Patrick Tobin script and has Jennifer Aniston in the lead. The Wrap reports that Sam Worthington, Anna Kendrick, Chris Messina, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Britt Robertson, Lucy Walters, Camille Mana, Manuel Garcia Rulfo, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste have all joined the film, which is directed by Daniel Barnz (Won’t Back Down). The project follows Aniston as a woman who becomes obsessed with the suicide of another in her support group and starts to look into her life. One can read more details on the additional characters at the source and we imagine this one will hit the festival circuit next year.
Which of the above projects are you most looking forward to?