After working with Nicolas Winding Refn, Ridley Scott, Zack Snyder, Steven Soderbergh and hell, even Madonna, you would think that plenty of doors are already open for Oscar Isaac. Well, we’re sure teaming with the Coen Brothers for “Inside Llewyn Davis” (and knocking it out of the park) kicked down a few more. So when Javier Bardem exited “All Is Lost” director J.C. Chandor‘s “A Most Violent Year,” Isaac got called up to replace him. And he’ll co-star with Jessica Chastain in the 1981-set movie—which Chandor describes as “one of the most violent years on record,” hence the title—about “a Hispanic man who immigrates to America and winds up a very successful businessman.” Stanley Tucci is also being courted for a supporting role. Sounds great to us, and with filming kicking off in January, perhaps we’ll see Isaac back in the awards hunt next fall.
Update 1/22/14: A24 have picked up the rights to the film, and will release it in the last quarter of 2014 in time for Oscar contention. [THR/The Wrap]
Though Jim Carrey had been circling the project for awhile now, it looks like he has officially dropped out of Jared Hess’ upcoming film, formerly titled “Loomis Fargo,” with Zach Galifianakis in final negotiations to take his place. Galifiankis will be starring alongside Owen Wilson in the film that was penned by Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer, based on an original screenplay by “Up All Night” creator Emily Spivey. Galifiankis and Wilson will play a couple of inexperienced criminals who go on a spending spree after stealing $20 million from a bank vault and leaving a ton of evidence behind in the process. Hilarity probably ensues. Production is set to start next summer. [The Wrap]
The always wonderful Isabelle Huppert is set to star in a Franco-German production entitled “The Embrace,” which was written by French actor Ludovic Bergery (“Tell No One”). “The Embrace” centers on a woman who starts having a number of one night stands after losing her husband two years ago, and winds up getting herself into all kinds of danger while giving into her “insatiable sexual desire.” As Ludovic Bergery puts it, “The Embrace” is about “a woman who discovers a new found freedom after a period of grief, a freedom that sends her into a sort of incapacity; a woman who knows nothing of love, thinks she has found it and then loses it before falling into an addiction that is in fact a necessary obstacle in the path that allows her to love and be loved.” The project is expected to start filming next summer. [Cineuropa]
Jason Patric, John Cusack, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Johnathon Schaech, Gia Mantegna, and South Korean actor-singer Rain have all joined Bruce Willis in the action-thriller “The Prince.” Production on the film has already begun with Brian A. Miller (“Officer Down”) at the helm. Patric will play a retired Las Vegas mob enforcer who, after his daughter goes missing, is forced to return to the city. Bruce Willis plays Omar, a man who’s been waiting for him to return. No official release date has been set at this point. [Deadline] — additional reporting by Kevin Jagernauth
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