Official: Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth to join "The Hunger Games" as Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne

The wait is over, people! Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth are now set to play Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne in "The Hunger Games" movie adaptation! They will join Jennifer Lawrence who was initially cast as Katniss Everdeen the main leading role. Thus the movie production will likely begin shortly to fulfill its March 23, 2012 release date.

As previously written here, Hutcherson and Hemsworth were the top frontrunners for this role and it wasn't any joke afterall. Both beat out other top contenders which were favorited by The Hunger Games fans themselves, with the likes of Hunter Parrish of "Weeds" and Drew Roy for Peeta and Gale role respectively.

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"The Bourne Legacy" wants Jeremy Renner!

I am certain that most of you readers still remember about how these young actors are contending to get the title role of "The Bourne Legacy". But seems like Tony Gilroy, the helmer of all Bourne series, wants one more name to be added to the list: Jeremy Renner!

Judging from his Oscar-worthy performance in "The Town", I personally think Renner will be a great fit to this Bourne-kind-of-role. He's been starring in numerous action movies; "S.W.A.T", "28 Weeks Later", and "The Hurt Locker" to name a few. He also has a great part in upcoming "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", and his biggest break would be the fact that he is selected as Hawkeye, the Marvel superhero who will appear as a cameo in "Thor" and the main role in 2012's "The Avengers". He was of course nominated as Best Supporting Actor in this year's Oscar. I'm sure none of you will doubt his talent by now.

Stay tune for more updates of "The Bourne Legacy" development! The movie is already set to hit theatres on August 3, 2012.

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"Resident Evil: Begins" is the official title and yes it is a reboot!

Last month I announced that the fifth installment of "Resident Evil" finally got a release date, and that Milla Jovovich will return as the leading character as well as Sienna Guillory who will reprise her role as Jill Valentine. Now the title treatment of this movie is finally released, and that it will be titled "Resident Evil: Begins".

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Lily Collins is the leading lady of "The Brothers Grimm: Snow White"

The rising young actress Lily Collins recently announced to play Snow White in "The Brothers Grimm: Snow White", directed by Tarsem Singh. Previously, it was announced that Armie Hammer will play the Prince while Saoirse Ronan was in talks to play his leading lady, but seems that Ronan is no longer attached to this project.

As much as I love Ronan, I realized that the age difference between her and Hammer would be a problem. She is a 17-years-old with petite baby face figure while Hammer is 24 and 6'5" -- that would be somehow strange. Collins, in the other hand, is 22 and seems to look mature enough. I think it's a pretty great choice for this part. Agree? (Plus, it means that Ronan still has a chance to star in "The Hobbit", which I've been wanting since the news of her joining the cast has spread!)

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Leighton Meester joins Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg in "I Hate You Dad"

One of my favorite tv star Leighton Meester officially joins the cast of romantic comedy "I Hate You Dad". The movie tells about "a dad who moves in with his son on the eve of the son's wedding, and proceeds to immediately begin a feud with his future daughter-in-law." Adam Sandler is the dad, Andy Samberg is the son, while Meester will of course play the future wife/daughter-in-law. This film will be directed by Sean Anders and John Morris, and written by David Caspe, David Wain, and Ken Marino.

Besides the popular series "Gossip Girl", Meester has been involved in movie productions since last and earlier this year. Last year she appeared in thriller "The Roommate" where she became an obsessed best friend of Minka Kelly, and then a Golden Globe nominated movie "Country Strong" where she lent her voice to sing the movie soundtracks. She starred alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, and Garrett Hedlund in the latter.

As much as I love Meester in the Blair Waldorf persona (and clothes!), I am pleased to see her crawl trying to play different characters. We all know she has the talent, it's time for her to show it off! :D

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Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth have one step closer to star in "The Hunger Games"

The front runners of "The Hunger Games" two leading men, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, are reportedly announced to be Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth respectively, according to Deadline. However this is not official yet, since the studio hasn't stated any official announcement regarding to this news. Lucky you Jennifer Lawrence, two hot guys are coming your way!

Lawrence was initially cast first as Katniss Everdeen, the leading lady. Gale is Katniss' good friend and hunting partner, while Peeta is more of a love interest. I personally fond of these two front-runners, Hutcherson and Hemsworth seem to be fit for the roles. In the other hand I am actually questioning about Alex Pettyfer's involvement in this coveted casting call, since he was not in the list of actors tested with Lawrence at the end of last month.

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"Rock of Ages" gets its leading man: Diego Gonzalez Boneta

ETA: Big whoops! Director Adam Shankman recently confirmed from his Twitter that Diego Boneta hasn't been cast as Drew Boley because the studio is still opening an audition for this leading role. But he did say that Boneta came to audition. Stay tune for more follow ups for this project!

After opening a wide casting calls earlier this year, "Rock of Ages" movie which is adapted from the popular Broadway with the same title, finally got its leading man. Let me introduce you to Diego Gonzalez Boneta, who will play Drew Boley. As a girl the first time I saw his photo on the internet I went, "WOW!" (I mean he's obviously very handsome!), and apparently this guy has been appearing in a bunch of popular television shows which most teenagers won't miss.

Boneta, the 20 years old Mexican actor, started out his showbiz career as a child singer. He first caught the tweens' eyes through "90210" series, in which he played Javier Luna, a pop-singer who died in a car wreck (FYI, he sang all of the songs by himself!). And now he currently have a recurring role in yet another series "Pretty Little Liars" as Alex Santiago, a hardworking salsa dancing cook.

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Steve Carell will star in "Seeking A Friend For The End of The World", Keira Knightley is attached to join

After leaving his famous television series "The Office", Steve Carell is now heading to the 'end of the world' (well, not literally) in his newest project. "Seeking A Friend For The End of The World" takes place when an incoming asteroid will destroy humanity.

Carell will play the leading role, a man left by his wife in panic who's looking for his one true love when he finds out that his high school sweetheart says she wants to be with him when the world stops. He then goes for a road trip with his beautiful neighbor, who eventually falls in love with him (and each other). But don't worry, it doesn't mean that Carell will leave his comedy world, since this movie will be somewhat 'comic' and romantic despite its 'doomsday' background.

My favorite actress ever Keira Knightley is currently in negotiations to join Carell in this film, playing his adventurous neighbor, but there's no confirmation yet about her involvement.

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Sam Claflin and Alicia Vikander cast in "The Seventh Son"

British and Swedish newcomers, Sam Clafin and Alicia Vikander, reportedly land the lead roles in "The Seventh Son". This film will be adapted from Joseph Delaney's fantasy novel with the same title, about a 13-years-old boy who is the seventh son of a seventh son learning about wizardry from a forbidding spook.

Claflin and Vikander will play Tom and Alice respectively, while Jeff Bridges has landed the Spook role earlier, while Julianne Moore is still in talks to play the witch. Alex Pettyfer and Jennifer Lawrence were previously the front-runners for the role of Tom and Alice, but it is now unlikely that they will join the project.

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Is Chloe Moretz joining "Dark Shadows" cast?

A few days ago talented young actress Chloe Grace Moretz (or simply, 'Chloe Moretz') tweeted from her official account that she just 'booked a huge project', which involves really cool actors (she said 'HUGE' a couple of times, LOL). Came to speculation that she's going to star in "The Hunger Games" in which she actually lost Katniss Everdeen role to Jennifer Lawrence. But then another speculation comes up that she is actually going to star alongside every women-obsession Johnny Depp in the upcoming Tim Burton film "Dark Shadows". That is HUGE!

According to Movie Web it was revealed that Moretz will play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard's (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) daughter, Carolyn. While a couple of days ago, it was announced that Thomas McDonell also signed in to play younger version of Barnabas Collins which will be played by Johnny Depp.

"Dark Shadow" is adapted from the popular supernatural television series at the '60s. With Tim Burton helming this project, I'm very sure that he will add astonishing visual art and effects! Besides Depp, Pfeiffer, McDowell, and allegedly Moretz, the movie also cast Eva Green, Bella Heathcote, and Jackie Earle Haley so far.

ETA: The Deadline confirmed that Moretz is indeed joining the cast of "Dark Shadows". THIS IS SUCH A GREAT NEWS!!! Congrats Chloe!

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Peter Jackson wants Bret McKenzie back for "The Hobbit"

Peter Jackson is reportedly wanting "The Flight of the Choncords" star Bret McKenzie to reprise his role as Figwit in the upcoming "The Hobbit". For those who didn't notice (like myself), McKenzie actually appeared in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" for a blink of an eye scene, and "The Lord of the Rngs: The Return of the King" for a bit. Here's how The Playlist explains McKenzie's very tiny role:

During the council meeting where Frodo says, “I will take it!” the camera pans over to a pouty elf. The story goes that a fan said, “Frodo is great ... who is that?” thus spawning the nickname of Figwit. He reappeared in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” alongside Liv Tyler and that has been his extent so far in the franchise, but perhaps not for long.

"The Hobbit" is currently filming in New Zealand, which first part is set to hit theatres on December 2012.

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First on-set photos of Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton on "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" set!

Thanks to Accidental Sexiness we now have the first look of Academy Award-nominee Jeremy Renner and British beauty Gemma Arterton on set of their upcoming movie "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters". Yes, it is based on the popular folkrole about two siblings lost in the woods and got kidnapped by an old witch, but seems like the story-telling of this film will be way darker, as Hansel & Gretel are two grown-ups.

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Hailee Steinfeld is in talks to star "Sleeping Beauty"

Oscar nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld is reportedly in talks to star a leading role in upcoming fairy tale-based film "Sleeping Beauty". This project is written by Lindsay Devlin, who will revise the whole Sleeping Beauty tale in which Steinfeld will have a lot more to do than 'sleeping' by entering her dream world and has to find a way out from it while waiting for the prince charming to rescue her. Hmm, sounds interesting!

Seems like the fairytale films have been trending -- started with the success of Tim Burton's Oscar winning "Alice in Wonderland" which made $ 1 billion on the box office. A few titles have been started and currently in developing phase; "Snow White and the Huntsman" which stars Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron (no Viggo Mortensen anymore, he's out), "The Brothers Grimm: Snow White" which currently cast Armie Hammer in addition to Julia Roberts, "Peter Pan Begins" with Channing Tatum in it, "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunter" starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton, and an underdeveloped titles such as "Maleficent", the dark witch of "Sleeping Beauty" which was reportedly will be helmed by Tim Burton and starring Angelina Jolie.

Meanhwile, the 14-years-old "True Grit" star Steinfeld has been stealing Hollywood scenes after her brilliant performance was recognized and snapped a shot for an Oscar nomination earlier this year. I don't know if it was a lucky hit, since it was her first ever film she ever starred in. Well I guess real talent will speak at the right time, no? Anyways, I'm pretty excited about this "Sleeping Beauty" project -- hopefully they will make a "Beauty and the Beast" one!

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Chris Pine is back for "Star Trek" sequel while the Jack Ryan franchise is stalled

Striking blue-eyed actor Chris Pine is reportedly will reprise his portrayal as legendary Captain James T. Kirk on the untitled "Star Trek" sequel. It is still unclear whether J.J. Abrams will return as the director, but Paramount Pictures is making sure that the leading actor won't go anywhere.

This decision is apparently made since an untitled Jack Ryan project, in which Pine will play the new action character, is currently stalled because of a slow script writing process. Pine was officially selected to portray Jack Ryan, an iconic character appeared in most of Tom Clancy novels, which was previously portrayed by Ben Affleck in "Sum of all Fears", Harrison Ford in "Clear and Present Danger", "Patriot Games", "The Secret World of Spying", and Alec Baldwin in "The Hunt for Red October".

Chris Pine made a huge move in his movie career by starring in action flicks, which mostly successful: Tony Scott's "Unstoppable" and Darwin Tremor's "Smokin Aces", after starring in numerous chick-comedy-flick "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" and "Just My Luck". He is currently in talks to many movie productions, including the adaptation of "Akira" and Doug Liman's next project "Moon". Well I personally love to see him in any genre though, he seems so gritty when it comes to the character. I'm hoping to see more Chris Pine this year!

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Thomas McDonell joins Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows"

Disney's "Prom" actor Thomas McDonnell officially join the cast of "Dark Shadows" as the younger version of Barnabas Collins, which will be played by Johnny Depp. Before McDonnell, French actress Eva Green as well as Bella Heathcote, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley, and Helena Bonham Carter also confirmed to join.

"Dark Shadows" is based on 1960s horror soap opera, in which all supernatural creatures with the likes of vampires, zombies, witches, monsters, warlocks, will appear. Tim Burton, the mighty helmer of "Corpse Bride", "A Nightmare Before Christmas", and "Alice in Wonderland" will direct.

The filming will start in May with an unknown 2012 release.

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Amy Adams is Lois Lane in "Superman: Man of Steel"

I couldn't do anything but squee-ing after hearing this news: yet another awesome actress to join Henry Cavill, Diane Lane, and Kevin Costner! America's sweetheart and two-times Academy Award nominee actress Amy Adams is the new Lois Lane in the Zack Snyder's reboot "Superman: Man of Steel", LA Times reported.

"There was a big, giant search for Lois," Snyder says. "For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning but we had this meeting with Amy Adams and after that I just felt she was perfect for it."

If the previous rumors about Lois Lane casting calls were true, then Adams has officially beaten out other thight competitors with the likes of Kristen Stewart (seriously -- I can't imagine this girl becoming Lois Lane!), Jessica Biel, Malin Akerman, Dianna Agron, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Mila Kunis, and Natalie Portman. Adams is also the successor of Kate Bosworth who previously played the role in 2006's "Superman Returns" along side Brandon Routh.

What I like about Adams is that she has rather broader fans and audience. She stole the teenagers' heart with her performance in Disney's "Enchanted", but caught the critics attention in "The Fighter" as well. Up next, you can see her on indie drama "On The Road" where she stars alongside Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Sam Riley and "The Muppets".

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List of "The Hunger Games"' Peeta and Gale role contenders tested with Jennifer Lawrence

More "The Hunger Games" movie update! A bunch of new names have been added to the mix of Peeta Mellark contenders, as well as the newly announced nominations for Gale Hawthrone. Lionsgate Studio has recently tested the actors to depict some scenes with the currently chosen Jennifer Lawrence who lands the female leading role Katniss Everdeen.

In addition to Josh Hutcherson and Hunter Parrish who were previously announced to negotiate as Peeta role, Alexander Ludwig, Lucas Till, and Evan Peters were reportedly join the screen test. The four young actors must be relatively unknown for some people, but I'm sure that you actually caught them on films. Ludwig was the leading man in epic fantasy "Legend of the Seeker". Till made his big break in the "Hannah Montana: The Movie" as Miley Cyrus' on-screen love interest, and he's going to appear in this year's anticipated blockbuster "X-Men: First Class" portraying Alex Summers aka Havok, the brother of Scott "Cyclops" Summers. Meanwhile, if you re-watch "Kick-Ass" you will absolutely recognize Evan Peters, as he played Aaron Johnson's best friend. From this list, apparently Alex Pettyfer is no longer up for this role.

In the other hand, the studio is also currently searching for yet another important supporting role in "The Hunger Games", Gale Hawthrone. Described as a very handsome and masculine boy, Lionsgate is searching for a at least 6' tall actors to portray this best friend of Katniss. According to "Hunger Games" best fansite Mockingjay, the announced names are: Liam Hemsworth, David Henry, Robbie Ammell, and Drew Roy. Australian actor Hemsworth first caught the public eyes starring opposite his then-girlfriend Miley Cyrus in "The Last Song" (and he is also the brother of Chris Hemsworth, the "Thor" guy). Henrie started his career being funny and entertaining in Disney Channel hit "The Wizard of Waverly Place" with Selena Gomez. Ammell and Roy are relatively very new, but you can see them on Nickelodeon's "True Jackson" and sci-fi series "Falling Skies" respectively. From the Gale description, I believe Hemsworth would perfectly fit. He is absolutely tall, with perfect masculine figure. Even so, most of us are still questioning about his real acting talents, but let's just give him a try. ;-)

Stay tune for more "The Hunger Games" updates!

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Michael Shannon and Edgar Ramirez contending for "Superman: Man of Steel" main villain

After Henry Cavill, Diane Lane, and Kevin Costner have officially won to play main protagonist roles, two talented actors Michael Shannon and Edgar Ramirez are reportedly contending to snatch the main villain role in Zack Snyder's "Superman: Man of Steel". The rumor about getting Viggo Mortensen to play General Zod is apparently not true, since he has signed in to play Eric the Huntsman in "Snow White and the Huntsman" with Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron.

Michael Shannon is mostly known from his recurring role as Nelson Van Alden in HBO's Golden Globe winning series "Boardwalk Empire". Even so, he's been grazing the big screen since 1992 starting from TV movies. His famous works to mention are "Vanilla Sky", "The Photographer", "8 Mile", "Revolutionary Road", and "The Runaways". He is now filming for drama feature "The Iceman", along with James Franco, Benicio del Toro, and Elias Koteas.

Edgar Ramirez also has started his career in the 90s, starring in Spanish television movies and series. Hollywood and movie mania began to know him as he starred in Tony Scott's action flick "Domino" where Keira Knightley and Mickey Rourke also played. He also gained more attention as he got supporting roles in more action hits "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Vantage Point". He is now currently filming "Clash of the Titans" sequel, "Wrath of the Titans", playing the God of war Ares.

I think Shannon and Ramirez are great candidates to play Superman's main villain, judging from their resumes. It is still unofficial whether General Zod will be the villain, but knowing the facts that this Snyder's version is a 'reboot', then it's still possible. "Superman: Man Of Steel" will come to theatres in 2012.

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Four actors to have "The Bourne Legacy" screen test

According to Deadline, the four names of who's going to have special screen test for Universal's upcoming action flick "The Bourne Legacy" have been announced. "Tron: Legacy", "Country Strong", and upcoming "On The Road" star Garrett Hedlund, "The Thing"'s Joel Edgerton, "The History Boys" and upcoming "Captain America: The First Avenger"'s Dominic Cooper, and the recently cast in "The Amateur American" Luke Evans are scheduled to test in first week of April.

Among those names, there's speculation that "Across the Universe" and recently added to "Prometheus" cast list Logan Marshall Green has been added to the mix, as well as two popular names Shia LaBeouf (who doesn't need any screen test to get into the list -- well, he is Shia LaBeouf) and Taylor Kitsch (who apparently has met with Tony Gilroy the director). But Deadline's Nikki Finke said that the studio might not need big star to replace Matt Damon in this "Bourne" series spin-off, and that fresh faces will likely be 'fancied' more.

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"The Magician's Nephew" will be the fourth Narnia film adaptations

Walden Media and 20th Century Fox have been discussing about whether they are making the fourth edition of "The Chronicles of Narnia" series, and if there's any, it is said that "The Magician's Nephew" will be chosen to adapt. "We are currently discussing with both Fox and the C.S. Lewis Estate whether we will make another Narnia film," a rep told Entertainment Weekly, and stressed that the film making is not official yet.

The first three movies had quite decent performances at the box office. The first two; "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and "Prince Caspian", were distributed by Disney Pictures and both passed $ 100 million box office in US alone. Unfortunately, both failed to attract critics, and I was so agree since they used rather cheesy-uninteresting script. But then, 20th Century Fox snapped the franchise from Disney started from "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", which is a good thing since the movie ascended much much better. It had no cheesy dialogue, a well-written storyline, and fun-to-follow allure.

"The Magician's Nephew" is originally the sixth book of C.S. Lewis' "Narnia" series, but it actually tells the origins of how Narnia universe was built (that's why the books have been re-ordered with "The Magician's Nephew" as the first book from the chronology). Set in Narnian-year 0 (Earth year 1900), it tells about how Aslan creates the magical world and how two pre-adolescent children, Digory Kirke (remember the old professor on "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" movie who told bedtime stories to Lucy Pevensie? Yes, Digory is his name, and this is his younger version) and Polly Plummer enters Narnia through a scientific experiment of Digory's uncle, Andrew. "The Magician's Nephew" also reveals the origins of Jadis, the mean White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton on the first film.

Seems like Walden Media has to conduct new casting calls to play Digory, Polly, and Andrew. As for Jadis, Swinton has expressed her interest to return, since she stated her fascination to "The Magician's Nephew" book.

I'm a huge fan of "Narnia" franchise and I just can't wait for more developments from this film!

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