Casting News: Schwarzenegger's Last Stand, Elizabeth Banks Also Expecting, and Spielberg's Lincoln Gets Another Ally
Posted 07.12.11 by Ryan
In January, Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed that he was planning to return to acting after finishing his last term as California's governor. When Schwarzenegger later separated from his wife, Maria Shriver, after the discovery that he had secretly fathered a love child 10 years ago, he put his acting return on hold, much to the disappointment of director Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer), who was in pre-production on the drama Cry Macho, which was to be Schwarzenegger's first role new acting role. Months after the scandal, Schwarzenegger is ready to test his popularity in a new movie, but not in Cry Macho.
Deadline reports that Schwarzenegger is set to star in Last Stand with director Ji-woon Kim (The Good, the Bad, the Weird). Last Stand puts Schwarzenegger into a Western in a story that's perfect for him, according to what a Lionsgate executive told the website.
It's an old-fashioned Western specifically designed for a 63-year-old broken-down guy with a moral decision whether Arnold decides to stand up for his town. We always needed an iconic figure for it.
Production will begin in September, leaving Cry Macho either delayed until next February or dead entirely. Schwarzenegger's cartoon TV show called The Governator is also on hold.
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Actress Elizabeth Banks is following her casting as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games with the big-screen adaptation of another popular novel, the best-selling pregnancy guidebook What to Expect When You're Expecting. Deadline reports that Banks has been cast as an author and the owner of a boutique for expectant mothers called the Breast Choice, and sees her militant view on motherhood soften when she becomes pregnant herself.
Last month saw Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, and Isla Fisher join the movie's growing ensemble, which has since expanded to include Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, and Chris Rock, as well.
Planned as a romantic comedy, What to Expect When You're Expecting will start shooting this summer with director Kirk Jones (Everybody's Fine) at the helm. The movie is scheduled to open on May 11, 2012.
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Not too long ago, David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) was added to director Steven Spielberg's upcoming historical drama Lincoln, cast as Lincoln's Secretary of State, William Seward. The newest addition, now, according to Deadline is Walton Goggins (Predators, the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens), who has been cast as Ohio Congressman Wells A. Hutchins. Hutchins was a progressive Democrat who went against his party to vote in favor of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.
Goggins joins a huge ensemble cast of actors, including Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field as Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, respectively, along with Tommy Lee Jones as Pennsylvania congressman Thaddeus Stevens, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd, Lincoln's oldest son.
Hal Holbrook (Water for Elephants), James Spader (Stargate), John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk), Bruce McGill (Law Abiding Citizen), and Joseph Cross (Milk) co-star in unspecified roles.
Based on Doris Kearns' best-selling book Team of Rivals, Lincoln was adapted by screenwriter Tony Kushner (Munich) and follows the former 16th President of the United States and his struggles with his cabinet. Shooting is expected to begin this fall in Virginia for a late 2012 release.