Emma Watson's Not Doing '50 Shades of Grey'
Today in show business news: Lots of casting stuff, including a sordid rumor about Emma Watson, a potentially holy gig for Christian Bale, and a 90210 actress having a comeback.
RELATED: Who Will Write 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?
A rumor started last week that the hacking group Anonymous had learned that actress Emma Watson, she of the Harry Potter films and darling pixie haircut, will be starring in the movie adaptation of E.L. James's wildly successful BDSM-lite novel 50 Shades of Grey. Members of Anonymous said they hacked into a film company's computers and found documents that list Watson as the choice to play Anastasia <strike>Krupnik </strike>Steele. Today that rumor got spread around a ton, for some reason, but it seems that it's false. Entertainment Weekly spoke to a rep from Focus Features, which is making the film, and they said that casting on the movie hasn't started. Also the production company that Anonymous says they hacked is not involved with the movie. Sooo, rumor shot down, I guess? I mean it's possible that the denial is all a smokescreen and that Watson really is on board but that seems like a lot of work. Plus I don't really think Emma Watson would agree to do such filth, do you?? Not Hermione, heavens no. This isn't happening. Give it to one of those Spring Breakers hussies. Emma Watson went to Brown for god's sake. For a year. [Entertainment Weekly]
RELATED: 'The Dark Knight Rises' Trailer Is Dark, Foreboding, and Uninformative
Here's another big rumor. Intense actor Christian Bale might be thinking about playing one of the most intense people in "history." He's said to be sniffing around a project about Moses, a movie called Exodus that Ridley Scott is developing. So that would be something, huh? Think how Method he'll get for that, living in the desert and talking to bushes. Or maybe he'll just watch The Prince of Egypt over and over again for like forty days. And who could blame him? That's a good movie! Really underrated, The Prince of Egypt. In fact, forget this movie, they should just rerelease Prince of Egypt instead. Sorry, Christian. [Deadline]
RELATED: The Inevitable '50 Shades of Grey' Parody; A Defense of Fan Fiction
At last, some concrete casting news. That Divergent movie that we were talking about yesterday — the one based on the YA book series about a future Chicago where people are segregated by personality traits — has found its male lead, the big love interest for Shailene Woodley. British actor Theo James, who played the doomed Turk on Downton Abbey and who's now the star of Golden Boy, will play the character Four. So... is that good casting? I haven't read the books, couldn't get past all that Candor Abnegation whatever nonsense, so I don't really have any insight into who would be good for the role. This guy's certainly not ugly! And that's usually what counts for these roles, right? That's really all it comes down to in the end: Who's cute. And he's cute. So this is probably fine. [The Hollywood Reporter]
RELATED: Give 'Anchorman 2' a Chance; Rogue Violinist Charms D.C.
Greg Kinnear has joined the cast of Anchorman 2, though there's no specific role mentioned. Methinks this movie is going to be pretty heavy on the ol' cameos. I mean, Kinnear is joining all the typical guys from the first one, plus Harrison Ford, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Meagan Good, and Dylan Baker. So unless Anchorman 2 is bizarrely some Altmanesque ensemble picture, I'm going to have to assume that some of these parts are pretty small. Which is fine! But I just think they should give us some warning. [Deadline]
RELATED: Darren Aronofsky's Ark Movie Floats; Tommy Lee Jones's Lucky Break
Clare Arnold lives! Beverly Hills 90210 actress (and, OK, Boss actress) Kathleen Robertson has been cast alongside Taye Diggs in a TNT pilot. Like, the co-lead! Good for her. The show is Murder in the First, and will have Robertson and Diggs playing police cops. Because that's what TNT does. "Everyone's police cops!" the head of the network yells, waving his arms madly. But that's fine. It's just nice that Kathleen Robertson — and Taye Diggs too! — is getting work. Apparently she had multiple pilot offers this season and everything. Funny how things change. In a related story, Ian Ziering is missing but presumed somewhere in the Valley. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Amanda Peet has been cast in the HBO pilot from Jay and Mark Duplass, the one that also features Melanie Lynskey. Peet will play Lynskey's character's sister, "an energetic and beautiful woman who is fun, outgoing, mischievous and smart in both dress and brainpower." She moves in with her sister after decamping to Los Angeles from Houston. So it's not a ton of info to go on, but so far the show sounds intriguing. Peet and Lynskey are both great and heretofore underused, and the Duplass brothers have made some good movies, so let's be cautiously optimistic about this, shall we? Sure there's no old 90210 cast member on it, but there is an old Jack & Jill cast member on it! So that's something! Right? [Deadline]
