Harry Potter casting news: Helena Bonham Carter returns

To no great surprise, Helena Bonham Carter has rejoined the cast for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth and almost final installment of the Harry Potter franchise.

The news comes from The Independent, which had this to say:

English rose Bonham Carter has most recently won plaudits for her portrayal of Harry Potter villain Bellatrix Lestrange, the female Death Eater (boo, hiss).

She is cast again for the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, scheduled to begin filming in two months for a November 2008 release. Her publicist said yesterday that Bonham Carter was not due back on the Potter set until the spring.

I just wish the movie had a different director...

Watchmen casting news: Is it good casting?

Zack Snyder's Watchmen now has its superheroes: Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman have been cast in the Warner Bros. movie, based on the highly acclaimed DC comic book.

Watchmen, set in an alternate America, follows costumed hero Rorschach, who is living a vigilante lifestyle because most masked heroes have retired or been outlawed. While investigating a murder, Rorschach learns that a former masked-hero colleague has been killed, prompting him to begin investigating a possible conspiracy.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Haley (Little Children) will play Walter Kovacs, aka Rorschach, who ignores the ban on costumed vigilantes.

Crudup will play Dr. Manhattan, a superpowered being with godlike powers and temperament.

Akerman will play Laurie Juspeczyk/the Silk Spectre, who is involved with Dr. Manhattan -- but that relationship begins to fall apart as he becomes more disconnected from humanity.

Goode will play Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias, a costume adventurer who retired voluntarily, disclosed his identity and built a large fortune. He hatches a plot to avert a global catastrophe he believes will be caused by Dr. Manhattan.

Wilson will play the Nite-Owl, a crime-figher who uses technical wizardry and has an owl-shaped flying vehicle.

Morgan will play the Comedian, a cigar-chomping, gun-toting vigilante-turned-paramilitary agent.

Watchmen, created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is one of the most critically acclaimed series in the genre. The comic is credited for redefining the superhero genre and often is referred to as the "War and Peace" of comic books. It is a crime-conspiracy story that provided the first realistic look at the behind-the-heroics lives of superhero archetypes. Watchmen appeared as the only graphic novel on Time magazine's list of the 100 best novels since 1923. That says something, huh?

Of the names I recognize, I'm impressed with the casting. No huge names to distract, but quality talent to deliver a darker comic book tale.

Greg Grunberg joins Cloverfield

No real surprise here, but actor Greg Grunberg, best known for his role as a mind reader on the hit NBC show Heroes and two J.J. Abrams-created television shows, Alias and Lost (he was the pilot who got torn apart in the first episode), has been cast for an unspecified role in J.J. Abrams' upcoming monster movie Cloverfield, also known as 1/18/08, also known as Slusho.

The news comes from TV Guide, and Grunberg had this to say:

"It'll probably be something where no one will be able to tell it's me. As you know, J.J. calls me his good-luck charm, so he's got to put me in there somewhere. I actually went to the set the other night, and it was really exciting and cool. The budget is not astronomical. But they're doing incredible things."

Wednesday's Casting News

I've got some casting news for y'all, starting off with the most amazing casting news of the century...

Variety reports Jenny McCarthy is joining Witless Protection, which stars Larry the Cable Guy. The movie, directed by Charles Carner, is about a small-town sheriff who must protect a federal witness. We all know this will be a winner, because Larry the Cable Guy is starring in the movie. Thanks Lionsgate.

Variety also says Dinosaurs Alive, an Imax movie appearing this summer in both 2D and 3d, will be narrated by Michael Douglas.

Queen Latifah will topline a remake of All of Me, the 1984 comedy that starred Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, Variety reports. The original movie is about a dying heiress whose soul inhabits the body of a successful attorney, but in this new movie, a female Jesse Jackson-type finds herself stuck in the body of a political conservative. Uh-oh!

More news from Variety has Disney signing Robin Williams and Kelly Preston to star alongside John Travolta in the buddy comedy Old Dogs, directed by Walt Becker. Ella Travolta, the daughter of two of the three stars (guess which ones!) will also have a role.

News from The Hollywood Reporter, for a change, has Val Kilmer (Deja Vu, The Doors), Wilmer Valderrama (Fast Food Nation, Yo Momma), and Marg Helgenberger (Mr. Brooks, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) starring in Columbus Day, a crime drama about a thief who has just one morning to fix what has gone awry in the biggest heist of his life, all while attempting to repair his relationship with his ex-wife (Helgenberger). Valderrama will play a longtime associate who helps plan the crime despite grave concerns.

Back to Variety... Rainn Wilson will star in the comedy Girlfriend Experience, based on a screenplay by cousins Mark and Brian Gunn, which is about a lonely geek who, in an effort to make himself seem more desirable, hires a prostitute to pretend she's his girlfriend. Nice!

Focus Features is saying Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen will write, produce, and direct their next two films for the company - A Serious Man and the dark spy comedy Burn After Reading. Burn After Reading will star Academy Award winners George Clooney and Frances McDormand; Brad Pitt has also joined the cast.

Monday's Movie Casting News

There were a lot of random casting announcements today, mainly of people I haven't heard of for movies I don't care to know about. Still, here they are... (sources: Variety and The Hollywood Reporter)

Tony Curran joins the horror movie Midnight Meat Train, and writer/director John Glenn's The Heaven Project (which also stars Paul Walker).

Crispin Glover will play a vengeful ice cream vendor in the indie horror flick, The I Scream Man (which also stars Tom Sizemore, Judd Nelson and Haylie Duff). A cameo includes George A. Romero.

Patrick Ryan Anderson will play Anna Nicole Smith's son Daniel, age 15, in the Keoni Wazman-directed biopic, Anna Nicole. Are you freaking kidding me? Please tell me this is direct-to-cable.

Soren Fulton has a role in the drama, Winged Creatures. The cast includes Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson, and the movie is directed by Rowan Woods.

Jessica Stroup (pictured here) and Dana Davis will have roles in the slasher/horror remake Prom Night.

Eion Bailey will star in the indie drama, Canyon, to be directed by Richard Harrah. The movie is about two honeymooners who have to fend for themselves after they lose their guide in the Grand Canyon.