Zach Braff Heads to Oz, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

zach_braff_getty300.jpgAlso in this Friday getaway edition of The Broadsheet: Michael Mann will Go Like Hell... Kenan Thompson gets a big screen break... John Cho has some Total Recall... and more ahead.

· He's off to see the wizard. (Groan!) Zach Braff has been added to the increasingly tremendous cast of Oz: The Great and Powerful as Frank, the put-upon assistant to James Franco's titular Oz. Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams are also set to co-star in the Sam Raimi-directed film, which is scheduled to start shooting later this summer. Oz won't hit theaters, however, until March 8, 2013. [Deadline]

· It's always good news when Michael Mann decides to make another movie, and so let's celebrate the fact that Mann is closing in on a deal to direct Go Like Hell for Twentieth Century Fox. The film -- adapted from the book of the same name by A.J. Baime -- will tell the true-life story of Henry Ford II, Lee Iacocca and racer Carroll Shelby, and how they decided to reinvent the U.S. auto industry by entering the Le Mans race for the first time in 1966. That's right: no guns! Mann last directed a feature film in 2009 with Public Enemies; he also directed the pilot for the upcoming HBO series Luck with Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. [Variety]

· Fresh off a fairly successful season on Saturday Night Live, cast member Kenan Thompson is getting his movie career ignited. The actor will co-star opposite Virginia Madsen and the previously cast Morgan Freeman in Summer at Dog Dave's for director Rob Reiner. The drama tells the story of an alcoholic Western writer (Freeman), who has lost his passion. Thompson co-stars as Freeman's nephew, while Madsen plays his neighbor. [Variety]

· Like Oz: The Great and Powerful, Len Wiseman's reboot of Total Recall keeps staffing up. John Cho will join Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Ethan Hawke and Bill Nighy in the cast. [EW]

· It wouldn't be February without a Tyler Perry movie, and so Lionsgate has slotted Tyler Perry's Good Deeds on the calendar for Feb. 24, 2012. Perry, Thandie Newton and Gabrielle Union co-star. [Variety]

· Gone and forgotten from Parks and Recreation, actor Paul Schneider has resurfaced on the comedy landscape. He'll lead The Baby Makers for comedy troupe Broken Lizard. The conception comedy will be directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. [Variety]



Comments

  • ZebedeeDooDah says:

    Thompson's movie career is being reignited, surely. Good Burger was awesome!