Welcome to Rumorville! Here you can learn about casting news that’s about to break in Hollywood. These speculations might be only rumors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t follow the trail all the way to the audition room.
“Highlander”
From Metropolis to the Scottish Highlands, Henry Cavill is flying high above the rest. First reported by Deadline, the “Man of Steel” actor is in talks for one of the lead roles in Lionsgate’s long-in-the-works reboot of “Highlander.” “John Wick” director Chad Stehelski will helm from a script penned by Kerry Williamson. Cavill is the latest to be rumored for the project, with everyone from Ryan Reynolds to Justin Lin involved at some point. The original 1986 film starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, and Clancy Brown, and then spawned four sequels and three television series. It’s unclear what the plot of the new take will be or if Cavill will be playing a new character or reprising a role from one of the previous projects. Neal H. Moritz and Josh Davis are producing the project with Amanda Lewis, Patrick Wachsberger, and Gregory Widen executive producing. No further casting has been announced.
“Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!”
First reported by Deadline, Norman Reedus is ushering in the end of his “Walking Dead” era with a cult classic. Reedus’ bigbaldhead production company and AMC Studios are developing a small-screen series version of the 1965 flop-turned-cult hit “Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!” Still in the early development stages, the project comes under the two-year first-look deal Reedus and his banner inked with the studio in September last year. The original film, directed by Russ Meyer, told the tale of a trio of badass go-go dancers on a cash-fueled rampage through the desert. The TV show, according to Deadline, is aiming to pay homage to the original but also go beyond the surface level and into “the strong female characters and the overturning of cultural norms that was deeper in the bones of the movie.” Said Reedus about the project, “I’ve been watching Russ Meyer’s film since I was a kid, wearing my Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill! shirt to school. It’s safe to say I’m beyond inspired by Russ’ style of filmmaking and I am over the moon excited for the opportunity to reimagine this story for the modern world.” Casting has yet to be announced.
“The Battersea Poltergeist”
Following its upcoming Disney+ “Choir,” Blumhouse Television and Michael Seitzman’s Maniac Productions are taking the same approach for another popular podcast. The production teams have acquired the rights to BBC Radio 4’s “The Battersea Poltergeist” podcast to be developed into a scripted series and companion unscripted series. Written and presented by Danny Robins, the hit docu-drama podcast features the voices of Dafne Keen and Toby Jones and documents “the strange events focused around Shirley Hitchings in 1956 that were investigated over a 12-year period, the longest documented poltergeist haunting in history.” Blumhouse also acquired Hitchings’ life rights, as well as the rights to her and James Clark’s books “The Poltergeist Prince of London: The Remarkable True Story of the Battersea Poltergeist.” Robins, Seitzman, Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, and Jeremy Gold will executive produce both the scripted and unscripted series, and Emma Cooper is attached to produce on the unscripted series with the aforementioned team.
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