It’s only appropriate that a wide-reaching film such as Cloud Atlas would have a large cast to lead it; news of further additions feels like a normal thing, even as production has commenced. Variety says that the latest one is British thespian James D’Arcy, who has been seen in Master and Commander & Exorcist: The Beginning, and also leads Madonna‘s reportedly disastrous W.E.

No information on his Atlas part, but the main lineup seems to have been assembled at this point — there’s very little chance this isn’t a supporting part. Nevertheless, it’s good for D’Arcy to act alongside an ensemble that has names such as Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw, Bae Doona, Jim Sturgess, Hugh Grant, and Keith David; you could do worse. The Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer are currently filming the David Mitchell adaptation (on their own, too) that’s expected to release in late 2012.

When you cover a project like Cloud Atlas at such a frequent rate, it’s impossible to forget about its existence. Others, like Pitch Perfect… you might lose track of those. I’m reminded of it by THR, who tells us that Brittany Snow has joined the Anna Kendrick-starring comedy, where she has the role of “Chloe, a somewhat rigid personality who finds her spot in the group”; Bridesmaids actress Rebel Wilson is also in the cast. Based on the non-fiction book by Mickey Rapkin and directed by Jason Moore, the movie will begin shooting next month. Ten bucks says that the “rigid personality” comes to accept others through singing.

Meanwhile, Variety has learned that David Duchovny will star with Ed Harris, William Fichtner, and Natascha McElhone in Phantom, a submarine and Cold War-set thriller that’s written and directed by Todd Robinson. Agent Mulder will play “the leader of the Soviet special forces team aboard the submarine, whose mission is cloaked in mystery”; Andy Garcia was originally cast here, but he dropped out for undisclosed reasons.

Although the idea of Duchovny doing a Russian accent sounds absurd, a good submarine thriller can be hard to turn down. I watched Crimson Tide for the first time this past weekend, and it reminded me that the claustrophobic environment of the craft leads to a lot of tension — why did these go away?. Something in the vein of that, Below, or the greatest submarine movie of all time, The Hunt for Red October, would be a treat.

What are your thoughts on these actors and the films they’ve joined?