It would seem that casting news for Young Adult Hollywood revolves around just a few hot and very in-demand names, and what a busy bunch they are! But because things change in showbiz faster than you can say ‘We love you, Miss Hannigan!’, the names on that list are changing all the time. So to that end, we here at YA Mag will undertake the hefty task of keeping you up to date each month on who’s playing what, who’s not, and who should. The roles and stars everyone can’t stop talking about are all here…
Lets keep the tradition of kicking things off with movie musical news. Now that everybody figured out that Anna Kendrick can sing (hello, Pitch Perfect!!), she’s been cast (as Cinderella!) in the Rob Marshall extravaganza Into the Woods, based on the epic Steven Sondheim fairytale phenomenon of the same name. Others in this stellar cast include Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine and Emily Blunt.
In slightly less fortunate musical news, it has been confirmed that Cameron Diaz – and not Oscar doyenne Sandra Bullock – will portray the crotchety Miss Hannigan in the remake of Annie. Diaz has some big shoes to fill in what will amount to her musical debut: the role was immortalized by legend Carol Burnett in the 1982 film and on stage this summer by Glee’s inimitable Jane Lynch. Also on tap for the new Annie is Bridesmaids’ Rose Byrne, to play charming assistant Grace.
Jack Reacher star Josh Helman can add the plume of X-Men to his cap, having been cast as the young William Stryker in the next installment of the Marvel series, Days of Future Past. This time-travel-themed installment will feature members of both casts, young and ‘old’. Also on deck is Lucas Till, who will again bring Havok to life.
Maika Monroe of the exceptional Sofia Coppola-helmed Bling Ring will next be one of the terrified cast members of The Guest, which features only this fragment of a plot summary: “A family befriends a man who is not who [he] sic claims to be.” Mysterious!
On The Hunger Games front, Catching Fire isn’t even out yet and we’re already fielding Mockingjay news. Rumored to be taking on the role of rebellious but subversive Alma Coin is the lovely and talented Julianne Moore, who for a short while there wasn’t getting nearly as much featured work as she rightfully deserves.
Blue Lagoon star Brenton Thwaites has two incredibly high profile projects coming up, namely as Prince Phillip in the Angelina Jolie fairytale epic Maleficent for Disney, as well as the dystopian sci-fi film adaptation of the brilliant novel The Giver, opposite Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges.
Glee‘s Marley, aka Melissa Benoist, and The Wackness‘s talented Josh Peck have both been cast in Imagine, an intriguing project involving John Lennon and featuring the likes of Al Pacino, Annette Benning and Jennifer Garner. Not bad at all!
Secret Circle’s adorable Britt Roberson is jumping from magic to sci-fi with Walt Disney’s hush-hush Tomorrowland, opposite Mr. George Clooney. Here’s what we know: Britt is slated to play the film’s heroine, and the title, previously “1952”, is identical to the futuristic-themed part of Disney theme parks worldwide. Hmm….
To round things out, we have a fun bunch of folks bringing their vocal chops to the silly looking Lego Movie: Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum for starters, who both recently appeared (to hilarious effect) in This is The End. Here, they portray The Green Lantern and Superman, respectively. Also on hand for Lego is Cobie Smolders, Charlie Day, Elizabeth Banks and Wills Ferrell and Arnett.
