Jeff Bridges is Grendel, John Malkovich joins The Fantastic Four, and more casting news of the week

Andy Serkis has been cast as Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler in Oren Moverman’s The Man With The Miraculous Hands, which Deadline describes as a “WW2 psychological thriller.” Woody Harrelson has also been cast as Himmler’s masseuse, Felix Kersten. Here’s the synopsis: “As war rages all over Europe, and Himmler’s health declines while his authority grows, Kersten finds himself in a unique position to influence decision making on the highest level inside the Third Reich. Playing a very dangerous game that may cost him his life at every turn, and using his medical skills as a weapon, the doctor manages to influence Himmler, turn him against Hitler, and, in turn, save many thousands of lives.” [Emma Keates]

Samuel L. Jackson and Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding are set to lead the psychological thriller Head Games. According to Variety, the film “follows a corporate spy who poses as a personal chef to infiltrate the villa of a former founder of a neuroprosthetics firm in order to steal his seismic-shifting new invention.” Anthony Mandler (Monster) will direct from a script by Colin Liddle (Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels). [Mary Kate Carr]

Faye Dunaway, Harvey Keitel, and Andrew McCarthy are on board for Fate, a movie director Jonathan Baker believes “will stand as one of the most memorable love stories of our time,” per Deadline. Not many details of the plot have been released, beyond that it’s a “suspenseful, supernatural romance” and draws inspiration for its fictional location (the Vista hotel) from Quentin Tarantino’s Vista Theater. [Mary Kate Carr]

Jack O’Connell is the latest addition to 28 Years Later, the long-awaited sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, according to Deadline. He joins previously announced cast members Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Boyle will direct from a script by the original film’s screenwriter, Alex Garland (of Civil War fame); the movie is the first in a planned trilogy, with Nia DaCosta already tapped to direct the next installment. [Mary Kate Carr]

Stars have been joining the new season of Wednesday left and right. Joining previously announced big-name cast additions Steve Buscemi and Thandiwe Newton is Billie Piper, formerly of Doctor Who and recently of Scoop. Evie Templeton (Return To Silent Hill), Owen Painter (Tiny Beautiful Things), and Noah Taylor (Law & Order: Organized Crime) have also boarded the Addams Family spin-off, while returning stars like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán have been bumped to series regulars, per Deadline. [Mary Kate Carr]

Michelle Yeoh continues her post-Oscar hot streak landing the lead of Blade Runner 2099, the Prime Video sequel series to Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (which was a sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner). That’s basically all we know about the show so far, besides the fact that Scott is producing, Silka Luisa (Shining Girls, Halo) is showrunning, and Jonathan van Tulleken (Shōgun) is directing the first two episodes, per Deadline. Oh, and production recently began in Prague. Otherwise, whatever is happening 50 years in the future of the Blade Runner universe remains a mystery—for now. [Mary Kate Carr]

Leave it to Nicolas Cage to keep his resumé eyebrow-raising and unexpected. His next project is The Carpenter’s Son, a horror film about the childhood of Jesus Christ. Fka twigs and Noah Jupe (who previously shared the screen in Honey Boy) will also star in the film, which was inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, according to Deadline. Written and directed by Lotfy Nathan, “The Carpenter’s Son tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. The son, known only as ‘the Boy’, is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension. As he exercises his own power, the Boy and his family become the target of horrors, natural and divine.” [Mary Kate Carr]

2023 was a major year for both Greta Lee and Kingsley Ben-Adir, and now the pair will share the screen in the horror flick 11817. French filmmaker Louis Leterrier, who took over directing the final Fast And Furious films from Justin Lin, is set to direct. Per Deadline, “In 11817, inexplicable forces trap a family of four inside their house indefinitely. As both modern luxuries and life or death essentials begin to run out, the family must learn how to be resourceful to survive and outsmart who—or what—is keeping them trapped.” [Mary Kate Carr]

Celine Song’s buzzy follow-up to Past Lives, the rom-com The Materialists, rounds out its cast with Succession alums Zoë Winters and Dasha Nekrasova (also of the infamous Red Scare podcast) as well as Louisa Jacobson (The Gilded Age) and Marin Ireland (The Umbrella Academy), per Variety. Starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans, the film is a “New York-set rom-com following a high-end matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man.” [Mary Kate Carr]

Taylor Swift has finally locked herself down a working actor boyfriend. It turns out all she needed to do was date a football player first. Travis Kelce is continuing to take full advantage of his new golden ticket to Hollywood with a role in Grotesquerie, the latest horror series from Ryan Murphy (via Deadline). Plot details probably won’t be revealed until the show actually premieres sometime this fall, but we do know he’ll be appearing opposite at least Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance, and Lesley Manville, with potentially more to come. [Emma Keates]

Alexander Skarsgard continues to give the people what they want by starring in sexually adventurous films (see: Infinity Pool). His latest is Pillion, a “fun and filthy romance with heart.” The movie will be directed by Harry Lighton and co-stars Harry Potter alum Harry Melling. Per Variety, the film “follows Colin (Melling), a weedy wallflower letting life pass him by. That is until Ray (Skarsgård), the impossibly handsome leader of a motorbike club, takes him on as his submissive. Ray uproots Colin from his dreary suburban life, introducing him to a community of kinky, queer bikers and taking all sorts of virginities along the way. But as Colin steps deeper into Ray’s world of rules and mysteries, he begins to question whether the life of a 24/7 submissive is for him. Has he found his calling, or simply swapped one form of suffocation for another?” [Mary Kate Carr]

Nickelodeon alum and A Million Little Things star Lizzy Greene will lead and executive produce High Tide, a shark survival thriller directed by David Straiton and written by Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott. Greene plays Hannah, “who, mourning the death of her sister, takes off around the world. Her journey leads her to Fiji and on a tour of an isolated atoll—a volcanic island that disappears with each high tide. But when the group are stranded, the rapidly rising ocean begins to reveal its terrifying inhabitants,” per Deadline. [Mary Kate Carr]

Ron Perlman and Rupert Everett lead a new rom-com in which two old men discover their feelings for each other, so naturally the movie is titled Out Late. Perlman plays Angelo, a recent widower whose world turns upside down when he befriends an openly gay Italian dancer named Edmond. Thomas Michael is directing Out Late, which is expected to release next year. [Saloni Gajjar]

Russell Crowe is heading to Bear Country. Deadline announced this week that Crowe would star in a new action-thriller from his Unhinged director Derrick Borte. Crowe plays a “formidable” club owner named Manco Kapak, who is robbed at gunpoint, ruining his dreams of selling the club and running off with his girlfriend. It certainly sounds like a Russell Crowe movie, but we must ask, where is the exorcism? [Matt Schimkowitz]

Jake Lacy and Rings Of Power star Nazanin Boniadi have just wrapped production on A Mosquito In The Ear. Per Deadline, the film, directed by Nicola Rinciari, is based on a comic book by Andrea Ferraris about their own adoption. Lacy and Boniadi play aspiring adoptive parents of a girl from India who is unwilling to travel to America and join the family. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Jeremy Strong might be coming on up for the rising. Variety reports that Strong is in talks to play Bruce Springsteen’s longtime manager Jon Landau in Nebraska, a Boss-based biopic about the making of Nebraska starring Jeremy Allen White. Personally, we think he’d make a better Little Steven, but until they pay us to cast this movie, we’ll keep our opinions to ourselves. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Mike and Dave might need wedding dates, but Taylor Lautner is a Token Groomsman. Per Deadline, Lautner will star opposite Sarah Hyland and Andie MacDowell in Natalie Simpkins’ rom-com The Token Groomsman. Lautner will play an out-of-work workaholic who gets invited to a fancy destination wedding. If only he could remember who the groom is! Hilarity ensues. [Matt Schimkowtiz]

Glen Powell, Anthony Mackie, and Laura Dern are going after big agriculture in Monsanto, a legal drama that will surely change its name by the time it makes it to theaters. Based on a true story, Powell will play Mackie’s attorney as they go after agrochemical behemoth Monsanto. Mackie plays a groundskeeper who claims Monstano’s weed killer Roundup made him sick. Dern plays Monstano’s toxicologist. This will pair nicely with Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Sydney Sweeney is ready to rumble. Deadline reports that Sweeney will play trailblazing boxer Christy Martin in David Michôd’s upcoming biopic. Michôd previously directed the Timothée Chalamet Netflix vehicle, The King. For her part, Sweeney says that she’s “grappled” as a kickboxer in her teens and has been “itching to get into the ring.” [Matt Schimkowitz]

The man who books so often he’s regularly mistaken for a library, Paul Walter Hauser is pressing his luck in Press Your Luck, a new movie based on the true story of an ice cream man who appears on the game show Press Your Luck. The movie follows the story of Michael Larson, a man who watched so much Press Your Luck that he unlocked the pattern of the gameboard and went on a winning streak. Walton Goggins, Johnny Knoxville, Maisie Williams, and David Straithairn co-star. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Glen Powell has decided he wants to rule Hollywood (at least his agent and manager have). That’s why you’re about to see him everywhere, from Twisters to Hit Man to Edgar Wright’s The Running Man remake, as well as possibly a new film by JJ Abrams. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Powell might be leading his upcoming film, although no deal is in place just yet. The pair has just produced a documentary called The Blue Angels though, so it’s safe to place a bet on this one. [Saloni Gajjar]

Taylor Sheridan never takes a day off, huh? Along with numerous Yellowstone spin-offs, the recently renewed Lioness, Jeremy Renner-led Mayor Of Kingstown, and last year’s Bass Reeves, he’s making another TV drama called Landman. It’s set in the world of—you guessed it—Texas’ rich billionaires and their fight with the local cowboys and roughnecks. Michael Peña has just joined Landman, according to Variety. He joins the previously cast Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Paulina Chavez, and Jon Hamm. [Saloni Gajjar]

For anyone hoping Melissa Roxburgh might become a regular fixture on CBS’ Tracker opposite Justin Hartley, Variety is sorry to report that it might not happen. The Manifest star is returning to NBC instead to star in the new drama, The Hunting Party. She plays Bex Henderson, a shrewd and curious former FBI agent who gets recruited into an elite government task force. Their mission is to capture some of the world’s most notorious killers (this is starting to sound like The Blacklist, right?). [Saloni Gajjar]

Netflix is continuing its team-up with Chuck Lorre. After The Kominsky Method, the streamer is going with another multicam, giving it a 16-episode order. Leanne Morgan plays a grandmother whose husband of 33 years leaves her, and she has to start over in life. Per Variety, Kristen Johnston has joined the cast as Leanne’s sister. It reunites her with Lorre because Johnston made a cameo in his CBS comedy Mom. [Saloni Gajjar]

Remember that ABC pilot with Tim Allen and Kat Dennings? Well, it’s definitely happening because Variety announced additional casting for the multi-cam comedy. Shifting Gears has cast Froy Gutierrez and Daryl “Chill” Mitchell in regular roles. Allen and Dennings play an estranged father-daughter duo who are forced to reconnect when she gets divorced and moves back home with her kids. [Saloni Gajjar]

Andrea Riseborough is gunning for another Oscar (sorry, we had to!) because nothing says awards bait more than a biopic. At least she’s a talent who can pull it off. She leads Alex Marx’s The Queen Of Fashion, about the ups and downs of Isabella Blow, a fashion magazine editor and stylist in the ‘80s and ‘90s. She championed designers like Alexander McQueen and Sophie Dahl while struggling with bipolar disorder. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey’s next project looks just as gritty and dark. They star in The Girl Next Door as a British terrorist, Sherfiyah Lewthwaite, a.k.a. The White Widow. It’s inspired by the true story of a radicalized 21-year-old mother of two who assisted during the 7/7 bombing in London. Writer-director Bruce Gooding told Deadline that he has access to her diaries, which he used to helm the movie. [Saloni Gajjar]

Masters Of The Air and Manhunt star Anthony Boyle is staying booked and busy. He’s been cast in Skintown, based on Cieran McMenamin’s 2018 novel of the same name. The film is about two BFFs in a small Irish town as they try to escape their lives during the IRA ceasefire attempt in the ‘90s. Josh Finan also joins the cast alongside Boyle. The film’s tone is influenced by projects like Derry Girls and Trainspotting, per Deadline. [Saloni Gajjar]

Ego Nwodim is sticking with the NBC family. The Saturday Night Live MVP has joined Peacock’s upcoming comedy series, Mr. Throwback, according to Deadline. (Don’t worry, she’ll thankfully continue her SNL duties as well.) Mr. Throwback follows a lowly memorabilia dealer (played by Adam Pally) who reunites with his sixth-grade friend, the casual NBA great Steph Curry, with hopes of finding success in life. Nwodim plays Curry’s manager and other childhood friend, Kimberley. The show is a mockumentary, hoping to take us (and NBC/Peacock) back to the glory days of The Office and Parks And Rec. [Saloni Gajjar]

Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe are teaming up for an inspirational movie about Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, a mountain climber who was one of the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The casting hunt is underway for who’ll play the Nepali-Indian Norgay, but Hiddleston is set to portray New Zealand climber Sir Edmund Hillary. Meanwhile, Dafoe plays English expedition leader John Hunt, according to Deadline. Tenzing will be about how they charted the highest mountain in the world. [Saloni Gajjar]

An angel gets wings any time Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany gets cast in a project. It’s just true. The actor, who also starred in Perry Mason and She-Hulk, leads the horror film Keeper alongside Rossif Sutherland. They play a couple who go to a secluded cabin for a romantic getaway (when has that ever been a good idea?). When Malcolm suddenly returns to the city, Liz finds herself isolated in the woods and discovers the cabin’s horrifying secrets. [Saloni Gajjar]

Malaysian-born filmmaker Jing Ai Ng is tackling the myth of model minorities with her new film, Forge. Kelly Marie Tran, Brandon Soo Hoo, and Andie Ju have hopped aboard the Miami-set film. It centers on two siblings who run a profitable forgery ring and get into business with a disgraced millionaire to create counterfeit artwork. But their careers, so to speak, are in jeopardy when FBI agent Emily Lee (Tran) arrives in town to capture them. [Saloni Gajjar]

We love a mysterious Marvel casting, don’t we, folks? It churns the brain to think about every possible character John Malkovich might be playing in the MCU’s upcoming The Fantastic Four movie. It’s not Galactus because Ralph Ineson’s been cast in that fun villainous role. So is Malkovich playing Diablo or perhaps voicing H.E.R.B.I.E., the robot? We’ll have to stay tuned to find out but for now, this movie’s ensemble is shaping up to be promising. Who would’ve thought? [Saloni Gajjar]

Sophie Turner in another TV show? Yes, please. The Game Of Thrones actor is set to lead Prime Video’s upcoming heist drama, Haven. She plays Zara, who works at a fund investment company when violent thieves bust in and demand she help them with the robbery. Saltburn’s Ashley Madekwe and Bodies’ Jacob Fortune-Lloyd have also joined the show, per Deadline. [Saloni Gajjar]

Sam Claflin is going from the groovy ‘70s in Daisy Jones And The Six to the much less groovy ‘40s in Perdition, an upcoming World War II thriller from writer-director Henry Dunham. Claflin will star as the sole American survivor of a POW camp execution, opposite Rupert Friend (Asteroid City), who plays a ruthless Nazi officer obsessed with hunting him down. “Perdition is a story about a chance survival, the responsibility it imbues, and the need to make it count for something, even while being chased by a seemingly omnipotent force,” Dunham said of the film (via Deadline). [Emma Keates]

Kaya Scodelario (The Gentlemen) and Billie Lourd (Booksmart) are officially joining Adulthood, the stacked-cast “modern noir” from director Alex Winter. They join Josh Gad and Anthony Carrigan, as previously announced. Per an official synopsis, “Adulthood is about a sister and brother, Megan and Noah, who are barely hanging on in present-day America, like all of us. When they discover a dead body, long buried in their parents’ basement, the siblings are pulled back to the hometown they ran away from and into a rabbit hole of crime and murder.” [Emma Keates]

Jeff Bridges is set to play Grendel in an upcoming movie of the same name, according to Deadline. The initial premise is giving Wicked a little bit, as Grendel promises to tell the story of the monster from the epic poem Beowulf from his point of view. There is quite a bit of talent already attached, too: Dave Bautista, Bryan Cranston, Sam Elliot, Thomasin McKenzie, and Aidan Turner also feature. [Drew Gillis]

It’s Friday, and Jason Statham has found his next action thriller to star in. The film is Mutiny, and it’s from director Jean-François Richet. The film is billed thusly: “After his billionaire industrialist boss is murdered in front of him, Cole Reed is set up to take the fall for the crime— leaving him on the run as he works to uncover an international conspiracy.” [Drew Gillis]