Casting News: Cooper and De Niro Reunite in Silver Linings Playbook; More Squad for Gangster Squad; Katrina Bowden Joins Nurse 3D
Posted 08.03.11 by Ryan
After pairing together for the March thriller Limitless, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro are looking to reunite for The Silver Lining Playbook, the next movie from The Fighter director David O. Russell.
Based on the 2008 novel by Matthew Quick, The Silver Lining Playbook follows a former high school teacher who is released from a mental institution into the custody of his mother. He then tries to win back his ex-wife but falls for his neighbor instead. Cooper was originally attached to the role, but recently it looked like Russell was going to re-team with Fighter actor and producer Mark Wahlberg instead. Deadline reports that Wahlberg had to drop out due to scheduling issues, and now Cooper is back in talks.
What part De Niro will play is unknown, though the report adds that Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class) will play the part of Cooper's neighbor after Anne Hathaway has dropped out due to conflicts with her The Dark Knight Rises shooting schedule. Production will begin this fall.
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With production drawing closer, more cast members are being added to Warner Bros.' Gangster Squad.
Based on The LA Times's seven-part series of articles titled "Tales from the Gangster Squad" from writer Paul Lieberman, Gangster Squad will follow a group of police officers in the 1940s (led by Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin) who work to keep East Coast gangsters like "Mickey" Cohen (played by Sean Penn) out of Los Angeles. A new Squad member as well as a gangster have been cast recently.
Variety reports that Frank Grillo (Warrior) has joined the cast as Ragan, a Chicago gangster who operates the Continental Wire Service, and, in a separate report, that Robert Patrick has also been cast as laconic LAPD officer Max Kennard. Patrick's role, a favorite of screenwriter Will Beall, was originally intended for Bryan Cranston, until he had to drop out of the movie due to being cast in almost every movie being made currently.
Gangster Squad will be directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) and co-stars Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, and Michael Pena.
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Katrina Bowden has had a busy hiatus from
30 Rock, having played a role in Dimension's upcoming sequel,
Piranha 3DD, as well as appearing as
Chris Klein's girlfriend in another upcoming sequel, Universal's
American Reunion. Bowden will only be able to squeeze in one more movie.
Deadline reports that Bowden will play a vengeful nurse in Lionsgate's aptly-named Nurse 3D. Douglas Aarniokoski (Animals) will direct the movie which will see Bowden and Paz de la Huerta (Boardwalk Empire) as nurses who take revenge on unfaithful men. More details on the thriller are unknown.