Casting Service

Two films that I've been following for this blog, recently made some pretty cool casting news, that should mean good things for the projects in question...

Variety's "Dynamic Duo", Michael Fleming and Ben Fritz lead things off

Terrence Howard is set to join Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man."

The Jon Favreau-directed film is the first to be coined through a financing arrangement that Marvel Studios formed with Merrill Lynch. Paramount Pictures releases the film May 2, 2008.

Howard will play Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, the confidante of Iron Man's alter ego, Tony Stark. Rhodes, a high ranking military officer and aviator, steers the team that develops the robotic suit that allows the sickly Stark to fly around and battle bad guys.

In the comic, Rhodes' character gets his own armored suit and evolves into an occasionally antagonistic character called War Machine. That development seems likely to be saved for the sequel, though, as Iron Man will battle villain the Mandarin when shooting begins in February in L.A.

"The suit is purely an innovative creation, so this is Marvel meets Tom Clancy technology," Marvel Studios production president Kevin Feige said. "Having the best actors for the key roles allows them to inhabit the hyperkinetic reality of this world."...

...Howard recently completed "The Brave One" and is shooting "Spring Break in Bosnia."

He's poised to play country music icon Charley Pride in a biopic for Paramount...

I can think of no better actor to play opposite Robert Downey Jr. for this movie than Howard. He has already proven himself as a talented guy--with roles in flicks like Hustle & Flow, Ray and of course Crash--Just to name a few. Kudos to director Jon Favreau for enlisting some top talent to bring Iron Man off the pages of comics books and onto the silver screen. Please keep it up.

Fellow Variety scribe, Pamela McCintock posted this news a few days ago:

Lee Pace will star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in supernatural thriller "Addicted," set to begin shooting later this month.

The Yari Film Group is financing and producing with Vertigo and Spitfire [films].

Joel Bergvall and Simon Sandquist, who helmed Swedish film "The Invisible," will direct from a Michael Petroni script loosely based on the 2002 South Korean pic "Jungdok." Story revolves around a woman whose husband and brother-in-law end up in a coma; when the brother-in-law awakes, he insists he is her husband...

Pace appeared in Sundance fave "Soldier's Girl" and is in two films hitting the big screen this fall: Truman Capote biopic "Infamous" and "The Good Shepherd."

Pic reunites Gellar with Vertigo, which produced "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2" (latter bows Friday). Vertigo also produced "The Ring" and "The Ring 2."

Lee Pace has made some interesting choices over the years. Obviously his chemistry with Sarah Michelle Gellar will be key, of course, but I think he makes a good fit in terms of the material...He was great in Soldier's Girl.