Home Posts filed under >Olivia Wilde
So this writer has seen maybe four episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” and finds it dumber than a bucket of hair, however, I’m sure they’re all nice people, so we guess we’re happy for Johnny Galecki (he plays the most socially adept of the show's chief nerdlingers) who, according to Deadline, has landed a big screen role in the New Regency sci-fi film that used to be called “Im.Mortal” but isn’t any more.
Galecki, aside from small roles in the likes of “Vanilla Sky” and “Hancock,” is better known for TV work, especially his recurring role as Darlene’s boyfriend on “Roseanne,” and here joins an interesting, previously-reported-on cast including Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake (Galecki will play Timberlake’s best friend), and "Mad Men" star Vincent Kartheiser -
The film concerns a future where time has become currency so if you’re rich you can live forever (more story details here), a plot that, in its dystopian futurism evokes "Gattaca," a rather underrated sci-fi film which was also written and directed by this film’s writer/director, Andrew Niccol. If he’s on that kind of form, with this cast, and shorn of its gimmicky title, we’re cautiously optimistic, though Niccol did make the blandly dystopian gimmicky-titled sci-fi hybrid mess that was "S1m0ne," so maybe make that ‘optimistically cautious.’ Shooting starts imminently.
Alfonso Cuarón's troubled, ambitious and potentially great sci-fi thriller "Gravity" will continue the search for its leading lady as Natalie Portman has officially turned down the lead role.
The news is a major bummer for the $80 million production, which can only move forward if it can find a bankable lead female star to topline the pic. Angelina Jolie was the favored choice but turned down the part twice, so Warner Bros. took a long look at their list of contenders and made an offer to Portman. It was last reported that she was in active negotiations, but clearly, she has moved on.
The question now facing the production is which direction to go in. Cuarón was willing to bring the film in on a smaller budget to get an actress of his choice, but Warner Bros., who are worried about marketing a female-led sci-fi action film (not exactly a guarantee of box office success), want a more bankable name. We imagine they'll go back and look at recognized names like Sandra Bullock, Naomi Watts and Scarlett Johansson who have been mentioned as candidates while other names linked as potential leads that have included Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde and Blake Lively.
At this point, we don't care who is cast really, we just want the film to get made. We hope that Portman's pass on the project isn't a harbinger of worse things to come. Here's hoping Cuarón and Warner Bros. can find a leading lady for the project soon. [Deadline]
Rapidly rising actress Olivia Wilde is the latest star to be cast in Andrew Niccol first directorial effort since 2005's "Lord Of War" with the ageist sci-fi thriller formerly titled, "I'm.mortal."
In an interesting twist, Wilde will play the mother of the film's protagonist despite being four years younger than the actor in the actual role; none other than "The Social Network" star Justin Timberlake. How is this possible, you ask? The story is, of course, set in a world where time has become a currency with the rich achieving immortality and never aging past 25. Wilde's appearance will be something of reunion for the two, since both previously appeared in Nick Cassavetes' 2006 crime-drama "Alpha Dog."
Lead Timberlake plays a rebel from the ghetto who is falsely accused of murder and is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage, to be played by Amanda Seyfried . "Mad Men" star Vincent Kartheiser also co-stars as Seyfried's father in a similar predicament to the Wilde-Timberlake situation; Cillian Murphy will play a law enforcer known as a 'timekeeper' and Collins Pennie, his right hand man.
Wilde's addition adds further steel to the cast and tops off what is already shaping up as the biggest 12 or so months of her career with Joseph Kosinski's "Tron: Legacy" and Paul Haggis' "The Next Three Days" due for imminent release. She then has the ensemble butter-carving comedy "Butter" and Jon Favreau's comic-adaptation "Cowboys & Aliens" due on the horizon. She's certainly come a long way since that lesbian cameo in "The O.C."
Shooting on Niccol's film should begin any time now with Strike Entertainment trio Eric Newman, Marc Abraham and Kristel Laiblin producing. 20th Century Fox will distribute the pic. [TheWrap]
So this writer has seen maybe four episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” and finds it dumber than a bucket of hair, however, I’m sure they’re all nice people, so we guess we’re happy for Johnny Galecki (he plays the most socially adept of the show's chief nerdlingers) who, according to Deadline, has landed a big screen role in the New Regency sci-fi film that used to be called “Im.Mortal” but isn’t any more.
