The Casting Process

Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons posted some casting news on two high profile films. The first of which, proves the that old saying--History Repeats Itself:

"The Bourne Ultimatum," the third installment of Universal Pictures' successful action series, began shooting this week in Tangier but without its main villain yet to be cast says The Hollywood Reporter.

An offer has gone out to Gael Garcia Bernal to take the role, though negotiations have not yet begun. The story centers on assassin Bourne uncovering mysteries of his past, which puts him in the cross-hairs of a superkiller.

Matt Damon is back as Bourne, as are Joan Allen and Julia Stiles in their respective roles.

David Strathairn has also joined the cast. In addition to Tangier, shooting locations include Madrid, Paris, New York, London and Riga, the capital of Latvia.

What is it about casting the villains, for these kind of films that's so beyond last minute lately? You may recall that a similar situation occurred earlier this year, when filming on the the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale commenced, without the villain being cast. You would think this kind of stuff would have been worked out by now. Since Damon is locked in as the "Hero", the film's second most important role, should have been cast. With filming underway, the director is forced to deal with 2 big challenges now, instead of one. I realize things can come up last minute, but really, there's no reason for this to happen on another high profile flick.

I don't know the work of Gael García Bernal well enough to have an opinion about his skills as an actor--other than to say, I recognize the name.

Overall, I think the Bourne films are OK at best--Meh.

Franklin continues with story #2 (originally reported by Production Weekly):

"Employee of the Month" writer/director Greg Coolidge, is currently in pre-production on his next project "Coxblocker," a comedy with Seann William Scott and Topher Grace attached to star...

In Coolidge's script Grace plays William Cox, who has trouble with women until he finally meets the girl of his dreams. The trouble is her best friend is her ex-boyfriend (Scott).

Little does he know that the ex-boyfriend is trying to get back together with her -- so while our hero, Grace, is trying to hook up with her, Scott is blocking him all along the way. The girl has no idea.

Topher Grace does a great job playing an underdog. He also has excellent comic timing. Watch a rerun or two of That 70s Show...and you'll see what I mean. We already know that Seann William Scott can play a jerk, thanks to the first three American Pie movies. As long as the script works--the team-up and movie should work.

Finally folks over at IGN attended "An Evening With Christopher Nolan" last night at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, (lucky dogs!) where Nolan's first feature, Following, was screened along with the trailer for his next release, The Prestige (due October 20th)

Nolan and his wife-producer Emma Thomas were in attendance for a Q&A session after the film.

The director's brother Jonah Nolan, who is scripting The Dark Knight, was also there but he did not take questions from the audience.

During the Q&A, the IGNers got the chance to ask Nolan if The Dark Knight would delve further into the themes established in Batman Begins, specifically the idea of justice vs. revenge and the exploration of Bruce Wayne's daddy issues.

"I haven't finished the script yet. I'm supposed to be doing it right now," Nolan admitted, sparking laughter from the crowd. "It does, absolutely. It's a pretty direct continuation of where the last film left off, and the last scene of Batman Begins suggests a strong direction we wanted to take the story in. It absolutely carries on with a lot of the thematic concerns and hopefully takes it someplace new."

When asked if District Attorney Harvey Dent – a.k.a. Batman's future nemesis Two-Face would indeed be in the film, Nolan replied, "I don't want to go into too many specifics. Yes, he is."

As everyone was leaving the venue, Nolan was asked if Dent had been cast. "Not yet."

Would that actor be an American, an Aussie or a Brit? "You'll see," Nolan promised...

As far as the casting of Two-Face is concerned, I think Nolan may already know who has the part, but didn't want to make any official announcement in that setting, waiting instead, for the studio's publicity dept. to do the job.