Several major casting updates have been confirmed by Mike Fleming over at Deadline Hollywood, and perhaps the most notable (at least in my opinion) is information regarding Danny Boyle‘s Slumdog Millionaire follow up 127 Days. As most of you probably know, the film follows Aron Ralston, the infamous mountain climber who cut off his own arm to save his life. The big announcement has already been made that James Franco will star as Ralston, but we now know that Amber Tamblyn will co-star as Ralston’s girlfriend, with their relationship played out primarily (if not entirely) through flashbacks. I am extremely excited for this film, and after Franco‘s masterful performance in Milk was overlooked by awards voters, I’d have to think he could be easy Oscar bait if this film delivers. Read the full story

Naomi Watts has joined Daniel Craig to headline Jim Sheridan’s next project, Dream House, based on a spec script by David Loucka.

The film will follow “a family that relocates into what appears to be the ideal residence in small town Connecticut. However, a father (Craig) and his family are disturbed to discover that their beautiful new home was the site of another family’s slaughter, believed to be at the hands of the husband who survived. Watts plays the family’s neighbor.” [THR]

Read the full story

Relativity Media | USA | 110 min

(Warning: minor spoilers)

Big name, studio-pushed family dramas without a “holiday” selling point (a la The Family Stone or Everybody’s Fine) are hard to come by these days. So are successful war films. Jim Sheridan’s Brothers is both of these things, and has fought a long, hard war of its own to open in theaters, literally surviving a recession and all the conflicts that it came with. Sheridan lost funding in the middle of production, unable to shoot the helicopter crash sequence as written by David Benioff, only to finally be saved by an output deal struck between Lionsgate and Relativity Media for 5 films, the first being Brothers. Read the full story

Lionsgate has released a new trailer for Jim Sheridan‘s Brothers on Yahoo. The film stars Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Clifton Collins, Jr., Carey Mulligan, and Ethan Suplee. It is written David Benioff (The Kite Runner, 25th Hour). Check out the trailer below. Read the full story