Production news from around the world

Rosamund Pike, recent Oscar nominee for her performance in the movie Gone Girl, is in negotiations to star with Christian Bale in Fox’s The Deep Blue Goodbye. James Mangold, who helmed The Wolverine, is set to direct the film, which will be an adaptation of the John D. MacDonald novel. Christian Bale’s character, Travis McGee, is a “salvage consultant” who is looking for WWII treasure.

Stars of the upcoming film The Age of Adaline, Blake Lively and Harrison Ford, have new movies in production. Blake will star with Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) in All I See Is You. Marc Foster, director of the zombie flick World War Z, will helm the film. It follows a blind woman who regains her sight, only to discover disturbing details about her marriage. Harrison will be reprising his role as Rick Deckard in the sequel to the cult classic Blade Runner. Denis Villeneuve, director of the thriller Prisoners, is in talks to direct the film, which takes place several decades after the 1982 original. Ridley Scott will be producing the film.

Leonardo DiCaprio is set to produce and star in the upcoming film The Crowded Room. The story follows the life of Billy Milligan, the first person to successfully use multiple personality disorder as a defense in a court of law. After he committed crimes such as armed robbery and rape, he was arrested at Ohio State University. The psychologists who studied Milligan before his court case diagnosed him with multiple personality disorder, and said he couldn’t recollect the crimes he committed. The film is based on Daniel Keyes’ 1981 nonfiction account of Milligan, who reportedly had 24 personalities.

Robert Townsend will direct the upcoming comedy Brewster’s Millions, a remake of the 1985 film that starred Richard Pryor and John Candy. Monty Brewster is set to inherit $1 billion, but there’s one catch. He must spend $100 million in one week or he’ll end up with nothing more than the clothes on his back.The story is based on the 1902 novel by George Barr McCutcheon that was adapted into a play in 1906 and then made into multiple films.

Jessica Chastain (Interstellar) will join Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt in the upcoming spinoff of Snow White & the Huntsman, called The Huntsman. Chris and Charlize will reprise their roles from the first film, while Jessica and Emily will supply new blood to the cast. Universal has set April 22, 2016 as the release date for the film and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan is set to direct, while Frank Darabont has written the screenplay.

Will Ferrell, fresh from the prison comedy Get Hard, will be breaking the law another way when he stars in his new comedy The House. The film is about a couple who blow their daughter’s college fund, then join a group of neighbors in opening an illegal gambling casino in their basement. Andrew J. Cohen, the screenwriter of Neighbors, will make his directorial debut on the film. Look for it to hit theatres July 18, 2016.

Richard Linklater, Oscar-nominated director of Boyhood, is in discussions to direct the film version of Maria Semple’s novel Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The Fault in Our Stars screenwriters Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter will pen the script. The story centres around an agoraphobic architect and mother named Bernadette Branch, who goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica.

Simon West, director of The Expendables 2, is set to helm the new action thriller Stratton, the story of a British Special Forces operative on the trail of an international terrorist cell. Henry Cavill will star in the film, which is based on a series of novels by Duncan Falconer. Cavill is also set to produce the film with his company Promethean Productions.

Oscar-nominee Michael Keaton for Birdman is in talks to play Ray Kroc, the man who turned McDonald’s into a global fast food empire. Robert Siegel, who penned The Wrestler, wrote the screenplay for the film. ~Andrew Siwik