Casting News: Tom Cruise Eyed for We Mortals Are; Aaron Eckhart in I, Frankenstein; Dominic Purcell Joins Paradise Lost
Posted 10.11.11 by Ryan
At 49, Tom Cruise shows no signs of slowing down, with yet another new project potentially being added to his schedule.
Already set to shoot One Shot — the adaptation of the Lee Child novel — this fall and with Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski's sci-fi action movie Horizons (formerly Oblivion) set to start production next year, THR reports Warner Bros. is trying to talk Cruise into a role in the sci-fi adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel, All You Need is Kill, now with the unfortunate title We Mortals Are. Vulture reported last month that Warners had made an offer to Brad Pitt for the role, but it seems that Pitt's equally busy schedule didn't match up.
Should Cruise ultimately take the role, he will play a soldier who dies while fighting against an alien race, which starts a Groundhog Day-like time loop that sends the soldier back to relive his final day over and over. During the repetitions, the soldier starts to see differences and a way that he can change his future. Dante Harper (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters) wrote the script for the movie.
Director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) has been attached to the project for over a year, and could be Liman's next project if he can land an actor that would help justify the movie's big budget. Liman had another project lined up, the space heist movie Luna, but the Vulture report revealed it had run into financing trouble.
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Aaron Eckhart (
The Dark Knight) is going to play a classic monster in his next role.
MTV reports that Eckhart is set to play Adam, otherwise known as Frankenstein's Monster, in an adaptation of
Underworld writer
Kevin Grevioux's Darkstorm Comics series
I, Frankenstein.
"We are thrilled to again be collaborating with Lakeshore Entertainment, and Aaron Eckhart, one of today's most versatile and talented actors," said Lionsgate co-COO Joe Drake in a press release. "This story is all about what it means to be human, and there could be no more achingly human performance than the one Aaron gave in our own Rabbit Hole. We are so excited to see what he will bring to this role."
I, Frankenstein will follow Adam in the modern-day world as he finds himself in the middle of a centuries-old struggle between two immortal clans. Just don't expect Eckhart to wear any bolts in his neck. Grevioux revealed to ShockTillYouDrop in 2009 that, while the Frankenstein is in the public domain, Universal Studios owns the rights to "the bolts on his neck." Worth every penny, we bet.
Screenwriter Stuart Beattie (30 Days of Night, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) adapted the screenplay for I, Frankenstein and will direct. Variety reports that production will start in Australia next January for a scheduled release date of February 22, 2013.
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More cast has been added to the upcoming adaptation of Paradise Lost, the adaptation of John Milton's 17-century poem about a war between angels in Heaven. Bradley Cooper is already set to play Lucifer, while Casey Affleck was recently cast as the angel Gabriel.
THR reports that the latest addition to the cast is Dominic Purcell (Prison Break, Killer Elite), who has been cast as Jerahmeel, an angel who joins Lucifer and eventually becomes Moloch, his most trusted ally.
Purcell joins a cast that includes Benjamin Walker as the chief archangel Michael and Djimon Hounsou as Abdiel, the angel of death. Deadline reports that Diego Boneta's (the upcoming Rock of Ages) casting as Adam has been finalized. Camilla Belle (From Prada to Nada) will play Eve.
Production on Paradise Lost will start this fall in Australia, and isn't likely to hit theaters until 2013. Alex Proyas (The Crow) will direct.