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Welcome back to another edition of “This Week in Casting,” the column that gives you the rundown of who’s attached to the hottest upcoming projects in Hollywood. From big time players to fresh-faced rookies, we’ve got the week in review for you right here. This week, we’ve got casting news about Josh Hutcherson, Olivia Wilde, Adam Sandler, and many more. Get all the details below!
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BIG NAMES
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Beyonce, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Johnny Knoxville, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, and Steven Tyler lead the voice cast of the animated movie Epic
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The movie: During a battle between good and evil that takes place in a secret forest, a teenage girl (Seyfried) intervenes and has to help a rag-tag team of misfits to save the world.
Other projects: I won’t list what every one of these people are doing next, but the biggest ones are Hutcherson reprising his Hunger Games role in Catching Fire and Beyonce starring in Clint Eastwood’s new remake of A Star Is Born.
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Adam Sandler taking over for Mark Wahlberg in football comedy Three Mississippi
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The movie: What was once set to be a reunion for The Other Guys stars Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell has instead become the first time Sandler and Ferrell will star opposite each other. The movie centers around two families who have been feuding for years, and who battle it out every Thanksgiving in a game of touch football.
Other projects: Sandler has That’s My Boy out this year and Grown Ups 2 in the works, while Ferrell will soon start shooting the highly-anticipated Anchorman sequel.
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Aaron Johnson to reprise his role in the upcoming sequel Kick-Ass 2
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The movie: A sequel to the surprisingly awesome 2010 comic book adaptation, Johnson plays the titular superhero and is negotiating to come back for another go-around with co-stars Chloe Moretz (Hit Girl) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
Other projects: Johnson is starring opposite Kiera Knightley in a film adaptation of what is widely recognized as one of the greatest novels ever written, Anna Karenina.
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Olivia Wilde joins the cast of Spike Jonze’s untitled new movie
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The movie: Rumor has it the story involves a man who falls in love with the voice of a computer, similar to the robotic Siri application in the iPhone. Cast also includes Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, and Samatha Morton.
Other projects: Wilde can next be seen in the excellent drama People Like Us out this summer, and she has parts in a ton of upcoming new movies like The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Rush, and Relanxious.
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Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Zac Efron, and Goldie Hawn starring in a dark family comedy called This Is Where I Leave You
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The movie: When their father dies, four siblings (Bateman, Efron, Mann, and a yet-to-be-cast fourth) return home to grieve with their mother (Hawn), and all sorts of metaphorical skeletons come out of the closet while they’re trapped in the same house together.
Other projects: Bateman is soon starring in Identity Theft, while Efron appears in the much-talked-about film The Paperboy that just played at the Cannes Film Festival. (Apparently Nicole Kidman pees on him in the movie.)
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Bradley Cooper sets his sights on American Target
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The movies: It tells the true story of Chris Kyle, a sniper with more confirmed kills than any in American history.
Other projects: He’s got The Hangover 3 on the way, along with David O. Russell’s drama The Silver Linings Playbook.
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RISING STARS
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Gemma Arterton as the female lead in Runner Runner
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The movie: Justin Timberlake plays a Princeton student who gets cheated out of his tuition playing online poker. When he goes to the Caribbean to hunt down the man responsible (Ben Affleck), he slowly becomes his right hand man and gets caught in the glamor of a swanky lifestyle. Meanwhile, an FBI Agent (Anthony Mackie) is hot on his tail, trying to bring Affleck down. Arterton plays Timberlake’s love interest.
Where you might have seen her: She’s been in big movies like Quantum of Solace, Prince of Persia, and Clash of the Titans, but we’re hoping that one of these days she shows she can be more than just a pretty face.
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Brenton Thwaites as the young prince in Disney’s Maleficent
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The movie: He’ll play the young prince opposite Elle Fanning’s Princess Aurora, and Angelina Jolie is playing the title character in Disney’s alternate take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.
Where you might have seen him: Not much. He was on a TV series called “Home And Away”, and stars in an upcoming Lifetime original movie called Blue Lagoon, so keep your eyes open for that one if you want a glimpse of him before Maleficent comes to theaters in 2014.
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Mireille Enos joins the cast of The Devil’s Knot
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The movie: Based on the real-life case of the West Memphis 3, the movie follows three teenagers who are convicted of killing young boys despite a complete lack of physical evidence. Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth star, while Enos plays a woman who becomes a key witness in the case.
Where you might have seen her: She stars on the AMC television show “The Killing” and also starred on the HBO series “Big Love” for a few seasons.
