Cannes casting news

Plus John Cleese writes for Aardman Animations and Jim Broadbent stars in a very cinematic new London show.

May 13 2005

It's all kicking off in Cannes at the moment, and one of the biggest stories of the week was news of Aardman Animations' next project. In town to publicise 'Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit', company chief Peter Lord revealed that their next film is to be called 'Crood Awakening' and will tell the tale of a culture clash in the prehistoric age. Written by John Cleese, the project will go into production when they've finished work on forthcoming rat epic 'Flushed Away'.

Elsewhere barely a minute seems to pass on the Croisette without some new project being announced, so here is the pick of the bunch thus far…

Robin Williams, Liv Tyler and Freddy Highmore will star in 'August Rush' a magical tale set in New York City's Central Park. Highmore ('Finding Neverland', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory') has been cast as titular hero August, while Tyler will play his mother and Williams a mysterious and dangerous benefactor called 'Wizard'. Kirsten (daughter of Jim) Sheridan will direct and filming is set to start in New York in August.

Colin Firth and Sir Ben Kingsley have signed up to star in 'The Last Legion', an action-adventure epic set against the backdrop of the fall of the Roman Empire. The story will revolve around Romulus Augustus, the 12-year old emperor who ruled for a day before losing everything. Kingsley will play his teacher Abrosinus while Firth has been cast as his bravest legionnaire, Aurelius. Doug Lefler will direct, with filming again scheduled to start in August.

And it looks like Mr Firth will be a busy man in the forthcoming months as he's also signed on to star in 'Meat Trade', a black comedy written by 'Trainspotting' scribe Irvine Welsh. Robert Carlyle will also appear in the film, a contemporary reworking of the deeply unpleasant exploits of Burke and Hare. 'Ravenous' helmer Antonia Bird will direct what will doubtless be a grim and gruesome affair.

The Weinstein Company (Bob and Harvey's new firm) have picked up the rights to 'Stormbreaker', Anthony Horowitz's bestseller about 14-year-old secret agent Alex Rider. A hugely popular children's book that has already spawned five sequels, the search is now on to find a young actor to play the lead role. Geoffrey Sax ('White Noise') will direct.

Danny Huston ('The Aviator', '21 Grams') and Paz Vega ('Spanglish', 'Sex and Lucía') will star in 'Fade to Black', a film that follows Orson Welles through the post-war world of criminality and political scheming that proliferated in Italy. John Sayles ('Lone Star', 'City of Hope') and Oliver Parker have written the script, with the latter on directing duty. Principal photography starts in Serbia in July, with filming also scheduled to take place in Italy and on the Isle of Man.

And finally, a homegrown story that has nothing much to do with Cannes, but we thought we'd share it with you anyway. A new play called 'Theatre of Blood' started previewing at the National Theatre this week, and several members of the Time Out team have already reported back with glowing reviews. Based on the Vincent Price film of the same name, it's the terrifying, bloody and hugely entertaining story of an actor taking revenge on his many critics. Running until the end of August, the show stars Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent, and for film fans and critics alike, it's definitely one not to be missed. For more information, click here

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