Since busting on to the scene with Arrested Development in 2003, Michael Cera has worked with many of today’s most popular comedians, and you’d have to be living under a rock to not have seen at least one of his films. Some say he is risking overexposure. But I say Cera has been steadily working toward Kevin Bacon status, developing a film career worthy of his own 6 degrees game.

To be a truly effective Party Game Icon, Cera would have to link to a variety of film actors to allow for a range of players to participate:

• a major Hollywood star (for casual movie fans)
• an international film star (for film students)
• an independent film star (for hipsters)
• a film star from Hollywood’s golden age (for anyone over 25).

As you can see below – Cera’s plotted his course well:

Do you believe Michael Cera has reached Kevin Bacon status? Give us your examples in the comments below.

According to SuperHeroHype, Hugh Jackman has dropped out of director Kevin Lima‘s Avon Man to spend this fall training for his follow up to 2009′s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

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Real Steel, the new Hugh Jackman film directed by Shawn Levy (Date Night, Night at the Museum), started shooting it’s live action scenes on Monday and USA Today gives us a first look at the film. The film is set in the future and is a boxing film with a twist. Instead of humans doing battle, we get 2,000 pound robots fighting. Read the full story

Rumors have been swirling the last few weeks that X-Men 1 and 2 director will in fact not be directing X-Men: First Class, like he agreed to last December and Deadline confirms. We reported last week that Fox is interested in Bryan Singer not only for First Class, but possibly X-Men 4 and Wolverine 2. Read the full story

The Los Angeles Times recently sat down with director Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Shuler Donner to talk the X-Men franchise. We already know Singer is attached to direct X-Men: First Class, but we got some updates on the project, as well as possible interest in other X-Men films. Check out the quotes below. Read the full story

Director Lee Daniels (Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire) has cast British actor David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland) in his upcoming film Selma. The film is based on the civil rights struggle in Selma, AL and Oyelowo will play the leader of the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Oyelowo joins Hugh Jackman, Robert DeNiro and Lenny Kravitz in the film. The role of King will be an immense challenge for the relatively unknown actor because of the high level of emotional attachment Americans have for the civil rights hero. Daniels, whom many have criticized for his directing style, has proven to be genius at pulling compelling performances from unproven actors which could work in Oyelowo’s favor. Read the full story

Two new Hugh Jackman updates have come our way today. The first is regarding Precious director Lee Daniels‘ next project, Selma. Jackman has joined the film, which chronicles the “historic 1965 march in the Alabama town that marked the political and emotional peak of the civil rights movement.” In an interview with USA Today Lee Daniels confirmed Jackman is the only cast member locked. Robert De Niro was previously rumored. The film is still scheduled for a May shoot, but that makes Jackman pretty busy as he is shooting the comedy Avon Man next month, the robot-boxing movie Real Steel this summer and the sequel to Wolverine in January, which we have more details on below. Read the full story

Although it was reported that Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn‘s next project may be The Dying of the Light with Harrison Ford, it looks like he has found something else. Empire (via The Playlist) spoke with the director today and he said:

Hopefully [my] next is a movie with Ryan Gosling at a studio in America. It’s called ‘Drive,’ and it’s about a stuntman by day, a getaway driver by night.

If this project sounds familiar it is because The Descent director Neil Marshall was signed on to direct Hugh Jackman almost two years ago, but the production never got started. Now that it’s back on track with Nicolas Winding Refn, I couldn’t be more excited. The James Sallis novel of the same name follows “a stuntman who’s already-exciting existence is jolted when he discovers that a contract has been put out on his life.”

Check out the full novel synopsis below via Amazon:

I drive. That’s what I do. All I do.” So declares the enigmatic Driver in this masterfully convoluted neo-noir, which ranges from the dive bars and flyblown motels of Los Angeles to seedy strip malls dotting the Arizona desert. A stunt driver for movies, Driver finds more excitement as a wheelman during robberies, but when a heist goes sour, a contract is put on his head and his survival skills burn up the pavement. Author of the popular six-novel series set in New Orleans featuring detective Lew Griffin (The Long-Legged Fly, etc.) and such stand-alone crime novels as Cypress Grove, Sallis won’t disappoint fans who enjoy his usual quirky literary stylings. Reading a crime paperback, Driver covers “a few more lines till he fetched up on the word desuetude. What the hell kind of word was that?” Lines such as “Time went by, which is what time does, what it is” provide the perfect existential touch. In this short novel, expanded from his story in Dennis McMillan’s monumental anthology Measures of Poison, Sallis gives us his most tightly written mystery to date, worthy of comparison to the compact, exciting oeuvre of French noir giant.

Winding Refn was also attached to the Keanu Reeves-starring Jekyll, a Gore Verbinksi-produced heist film and the neo-Western Only God Forgives, set in Bangkok. The word that he will be directing Drive comes straight from his mouth, so expect it to be his next project. I loved Bronson and need to see Valhalla Rising again to fully appreciate it, but I look forward to anything Refn does.

Do you like Nicolas Winding Refn? Would you like to see him direct Drive?

Today we have new information on the casting of two upcoming projects. The first comes from Joe Johnston‘s Captain America. In an interview with SCI FI Wire, Johnston talked about how we will know the actors for the film soon:

“We need to cast it soon,” Johnston said. “We have a very short list, but we’re still juggling actors here. I’d say within the next couple of weeks we’ll have ourselves a Captain America, I hope.”

Production will start in the UK this June for a July 22, 2011 release date.

The next story comes from the Hugh Jackman project, Real Steel, directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum). The sci-fi sports film is budgeted around a modestly $80 million. Check out the press release from Dreamworks below, regarding the open casting call.

DreamWorks Studios has launched a nationwide casting search to fill a lead role in its upcoming movie “Real Steel,” it was announced today by DreamWorks Studios.

Actors interested in the role have two ways to audition. Beginning immediately, individuals can submit a videotaped audition through RealSteelcasting.com. Complete instructions are available on the website.

Additionally, two open call auditions will be held starting on Sunday, February 14, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois and then on Saturday, February 20, 2010 in New York, New York. No acting experience is necessary for interested actors, nor are they required to prepare anything for the audition.

Role to be cast is ‘Max’: Male, 10-14 years old. He’s a street-smart, tough, charming kid with a hard, untrusting outer shell which hides a warm enthusiastic spirit beneath. He is a complicated, strong-willed and resourceful boy.

Details on the open call auditions are as follows:

CHICAGO
Sunday, February 14, 2010
11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Chicago Academy of the Arts
1010 W Chicago Street
Chicago, IL 60642-5490
(Parking behind building)

NEW YORK
Saturday, February 20, 2010
11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Shetler Studios
244 West 54th Street
12th Floor
New York, NY 10019-5515

Complete details on the auditions are available at RealSteelcasting.com. All videotape submissions will become the property of Dreamworks Studios and will not be returned.

The new sport of robot-boxing is the backdrop for the sports drama “Real Steel” about a former boxer (Hugh Jackman) who gets one last shot at the title when he teams up with his long-lost son (‘Max’) to train a unique robot for the upcoming Real Steel World Championship. Film is being directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum”) and produced by Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Shawn Levy. Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Josh McLaglen, and Mary McLaglen are all executive producing. John Gatins has written the script.

Are you excited for these projects? Who would you like to see cast?

The Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post has reported today that Hugh Jackman will be playing the male lead in Wayne Wang’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Also joining the cast is Jeon Ji-Hyun and Li Bingbing (The Forbidden Kingdom) who has replaced Zhang Ziyi. Read the full story