After delivering the first two Iron Man films and popping up in Shane Black‘s recent superhero threequel, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. are set to re-team for another project and one of a much smaller scope. News hit last month that Favreau would write, direct and star in a comedy title Chef, playing a man who loses his gig at a Los Angeles restaurant and starts a food trick — now a press release reveals that RDJ will also lead the film. They’ll be starring alongside he recently added Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale and while there’s no details on their roles yet, production kicks off this July for a likely 2014 release.
In other casting news, Screen Daily reports that Kate Winslet, who hasn’t starred in a film since 2011’s Contagion (no, we don’t count Movie 43), has lined up a new feature role. The actress is set to lead the 1950s set romantic drama The Dressmaker. Set to be directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof) the film follows Winslet as Tilly, “an avenging angel who returns home to the remote Australian country town from which she fled as a child after being accused of murder. Although ostracised, Tilly, an exponent of stunning ’40s haute couture, liberates and empowers the town’s women with her wit and her fashionable designs. She eventually finds unexpected love and is able to exact revenge on those who wronged her.” Production kicks off this fall.
Now that a director has finally been set with Antoine Fuqua, additional casting has come in for The Equalizer, a thriller which sees a Training Day reunion as Denzel Washington leads. According to Deadline, Chloe Moretz has been cast in the female lead role, playing the young prostitute named Teri (reports indicate her character is not far removed from Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver). Scripted by Richard Wenk, the thriller finds Washington as “troubleshooter” (played by Robert McCall in the original ’80s TV series) employed for a company called “The Agency.” Productions begins soon for an April 2014 release.
In our last bit of casting news, Brad Furman has found his Pablo Escobar for an upcoming, currently untitled biopic on the infamous Colombian drug cartel kingpin. According to Deadline, Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Drive) is set for the lead in the Black List script from Matt Aldrich, which has been described as”the Latino Godfather“and a cross between the classic mob film and a war picture, with it containing “the story of his family, the structure of his enterprise, and his rise.” Production kicks off on location this fall, around the same time Furman’s Runner Runner will hit theaters.
Which of the above projects are you most looking forward to?