And we're back!
• Tom Hardy is Elton John in Rocketman. The resemblance isn't quite there for met yet, but if anyone is good at seamlessly slipping into completely different characters, it's this guy. Also Sir Elton will be re-recording some of his greatest hits for the film so it should be a good one. [The Wrap]
• Jai Courtney continues the long tradition of Aussie actors becoming movie stars, and has now landed two more intriguing roles, one in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken and the other in Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner. He'll play a soldier in both, and he'll probably be pretty badass at it. [Deadline]
• True life kidnap thriller Captive has added Michael K. Williams to star opposite David Oyelowo and Kate Mara. Filming begins this weekend with Oyelowo as an escaped murderer, Mara as the woman he takes captive and Williams as the lead detective on the case. [Deadline]
• Drake Doremus is breaking with tradition and is hoping to cast Kristen Stewart in his next film instead of his usual muse Felicity Jones. Stewart and Nicholas Hoult are being "courted" for Doremus next feature, a sci-fi love story called Equals. Well, I'm sure Jones will have a role in there somewhere. [Deadline]
• Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos' English-language debut is called The Lobster and is assembling an impressive international cast, led by Aussie Jason Clarke, Brits Olivia Coleman and Ben Whishaw and French actress-of-the-moment Lea Seydoux. Also intriguing is the plot, which is set in a dystopian future without teens needing to save the world and choose the right guy all at the same time. Singles in this world have to find a partner within 45 days or be turned into an animal and set free in the woods. Is it just me or does that sound preferable to the former option? [THR]
• Hailee Steinfeld's teenage assassin has found herself a bunch of teenage friends. Gabriel Basso, Thomas Mann and Dove Cameron have all signed on to Barely Lethal, the action comedy about Steinfeld's character who fakes her own death in order to live a normal adolescence away from her super secret assassin school that begins filming next week. Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Alba also star. [The Wrap]
• BBC miniseries Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel begins filming next week and has assembled a cast that includes Eddie Marsen and Bertie Carvel in the title roles and Marc Warren, Samuel West, Charlotte Riley, Enzo Cilenti and Paul Kaye in supporting roles. The 19th Century-set story is based on Susanna Clark's novel and follows "Strange (Carvel) – a charming and rich aspiring magician – and Norrell (Marsan) – a recluse with fantastic abilities." [BBC]
• Michelle Monaghan is the latest Nicholas Sparks heroine, signing on to star in The Best of Me, which is a tearjerker about former high school sweethearts who meet up again years later when they both return to their small North Carolina town. Now taking bets on which one dies. [THR]
• Blumhouse thriller Incarnate has Aaron Eckhart and had Rosario Dawson, but now its female lead has been recast and Catalina Sandino Moreno will be taking over the role that Dawson had to vacate due to scheduling conflicts. Eckhart plays an exorcist who meets his match in a creepy 9-year-old boy. [THR]