Stephen Root

I absolutely loved his turn as dysfunctional Eddie on HBO’s “True Blood,” and he’s done a slew of other projects, including “King of the Hill,” “No Country for Old Men,” and the upcoming film “The Men Who Stare at Goats.”

Root’s been cast in two upcoming films, Fox Searchlight’s "Cedar Rapids" and Robert Redford’s latest drama, "The Conspirator."

In "Rapids," Root joins Ed Helms, Anne Heche and John C. Reilly, playing the owner of an insurance company and Helms’ boss.

In “Conspirator,” he co-stars with James McAvoy and Robin Wright. It’s a historical drama in which Root will play a witness for the prosecution on the trail of a Confederate sympathizer who is tried as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.

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Robert Schwentke is directing the film, based on a miniseries from Wildstorm/DC Comics. Bruce Willis is already on board to play a former black ops agent (is it just me, or does he always play these types of characters?), now retired and dealing with younger, more high-tech assassins who show up to kill him.

Here’s the rundown on the other characters:

• Julian McMahon: a Vice President with a dark side who’s at the center of a shadow conspiracy
• Ernest Borgnine: the keeper of the CIA’s darkest records (in real life, I imagine he holds some dark secrets about Hollywood)
• Richard Dreyfuss: a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts.
• Brian Cox: a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis’ character

Also on board are Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John C. Reilly and Mary Louise Parker.

You might have seen McMahon in FX’s “Nip/Tuck.” His star is rising fast.

Image: INF; Source: HeatVisionBlog

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Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to star in the sci-fi thriller about a soldier who wakes up in the body of a commuter and must solve the mystery of a train explosion.

Philippe Rousselet and Mark Gordon are set to produce, but I’m most excited about the director – Duncan Jones who directed this year’s sleeper sci-fi hit, “Moon.”

If you haven’t seen that movie yet, check it out. It’s a real twisty-turny space odyssey, with similarities to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Oh, by the way, Jones is David Bowie’s son.

And Jake Gyllenhaal … well, he can do no wrong as far as the film projects he’s choosing these days.

Source: Hollywood Reporter / Image: INF

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The latest word is that Johnny Depp is in talks to sign, replacing Sam Worthington, who replaced Tom Cruise. If it’s a go, Depp will play an American tourist who’s used by an Interpol agent to flush out a criminal with whom she once had an affair.

The agent will be played by Angelina Jolie, which would make for an awesome pairing with Depp. I’m trying to think if they’ve ever done a movie, and nothing comes to mind. If not, it’s time!

For more on Angelina Jolie, check out Pitt Watch; for more on Tom Cruise, visit TomKatCrazy. 

Any thoughts on this pairing?

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But what about the villains we already know and love? Like Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin? Ok, sure he “died” at the end of the first “Spider-Man” movie, but he managed to appear in the two sequels as an apparition in a mirror, seen by his son, Harry.

While Dafoe says that “no one’s called” to ask if he’d be in the upcoming “Spider-Man 4,” he’s not ruling out the idea.

“I think it’s possible,” he said in a recent MTV interview. “But I haven’t heard anything.”

There’s also the fact that Harry — played by James Franco — is probably out of the picture after his death in “Spider-Man 3.” But like Dafoe says, anything is possible.

Check out all the “Spider-Man” coverage on Superhero Profiles!

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We’ve got our answer for at least one of the characters. John Rhys-Davies will not be back as the dwarf Gimli or any other dwarf, for that matter. But probably not for the reasons you think.

In an interview with Empire, he talked about the severe allergic reaction he had to the prosthetic makeup he wore for “Rings,” saying he wouldn’t play the character again.

“I’ve already been asked, and to be honest with you, I wouldn’t. I have already completely ruled it out. There’s a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really, I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more."

In fact, it got so bad that Rhys-Davies could only work one day out of three. And he says he probably wouldn’t consider a smaller part. “Why would you want to do it if it was just a couple of shots? When you’ve been 1 of 1, why would you want to be 1 of 13?”

Ok, so how about a different race? “I’d really prefer to play something quite different. Maybe an Elf. They’ve got a different set of problems with ‘The Hobbit,’ because you’ve got 13 dwarves, a whole band of them. … You’re trying to represent a whole race. … You’re trying to do for dwarves what ‘The Lord of the Rings’ did for hobbits."

It’s disappointing, but hopefully we’ll see him in a different role.

Photo by Pierre Vinét – © 2003 New Line Productions. All Rights Reserved.

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Now they might be teaming again, because rumor has it they’re in talks to star in a remake of the 1949 classic “The Third Man.”

Here’s the plot: After arriving in post-WWII Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who invited him, was involved in a car accident. When Martin starts investigating the death, he finds out more than he bargained for.

“Eastern Promises” writer Steven Knight is rumored to be writing the film, but no director is attached yet.

In the original, Joseph Cotten played Holly, and Orson Welles played Harry. No word on which character DiCaprio and Maguire would play, but it sounds like a great crime thriller ripe for a remake.

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George Miller has written, directed and/or produced all the “Mad Max” movies, and he’s at it again. Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are rumored to be in talks for “Mad Max: Road Fury,” looking at a 2011 release date.

The Hollywood Reporter is now reporting that the movie will film Down Under next year in Sydney and outback New South Wales. Warner Brothers yanked “Green Lantern” off the continent, so maybe this movie and its $100 million budget will help to fill the void.

It’s unlikely that Mel Gibson will be returning, at least not as Max, but ABC is putting Sam Worthington out there as a replacement.

Yeah, I can see that. What about The Gyro Captain, though? They’ll have trouble finding a suitable replacement for Bruce Spence.

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In his next film, “The Road,” he plays a man trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world with his son. Together, the pair tries to defend themselves against cannibals stalking the streets. Sounds very … dark.

The film also stars Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, and Robert Duvall, and opens in theaters Nov. 25, 2009. So it looks like he’ll continue his loner roles with this one. Here’s Mortensen at a photo call for the film this week.

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Most recently, she starred as the Vampire Queen in HBO’s “True Blood” and in the feature films “Whatever Works” and 2008’s “The Wrestler.”

Now she’s joined the cast of the Robert Redford-directed film "The Conspirator," which begins shooting this month in Georgia. It’s a historical drama about a Confederate sympathizer who was tried as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination and the man who defended her before a military tribunal.

James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn and Justin Long also star in the film. It’s been a while since Redford directed a film – most recently, 2007’s “Lions for Lambs.” But he has several films lined up as either director, producer, actor or all three, including “Against All Enemies,” “A Walk in the Woods,” and “The Company You Keep.”

Image: INF; Source; Hollywood Reporter

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