Soderbergh's Bitter Pill Gets A Cast

Recently Steven Soderbergh walked from directing The Man From UNCLE for Warner Bros. Guy Ritchie would come on to produce and possibly direct that project instead. ThePlaylist has word that Soderbergh's other project is set to go with principle actors set for The Bitter Pill. The cast includes Blake Lively (The Town), Channing Tatum (Haywire) and Jude Law (Contagion). Tatum seems to be Steven's current muse as he's starred in his last two films Haywire and Magic Mike.

Channing Tatum Could Join The Man From UNCLE

It looks like casting is all over the place with for Steven Soderbergh's The Man From UNCLE. Deadline now reports that Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, Haywire) is now in mind for the role of American spy Napoleon Solo. That role had been linked to the likes of George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bradley Cooper. Channing recently worked with Soderbergh on Haywire and his male stripper film Magic Mike which is currently shooting. There is no word if Joel Edgerton (Warrior) is still up for the second lead as the Russian agent.

Funny As Hell Red Band Trailer For 21 Jump Street

Ray Stevenson, Adrianne Palicki & Joe Mazeello Join G.I. Joe 2

Deadline reports the new addition of Joe Mazzello to G.I. Joe 2, best known for his role as Tim in Jurassic Park. Yet more recently has earned praise for his work in the HBO series The Pacific along with his supporting role in The Social Network. Other previous additions included Ray Stevenson set to play Cobra villain Firefly and Adrianne Palicki (Red Dawn) taking the role of Lady Jaye.

Ellie Kemper Joins 21 Jump Street

Variety reports Ellie Kemper (The Office, Bridesmaids) has joined 21 Jump Street. The film stars Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum Brie Larson, Ice Cube, Rob Riggle, Dave Franco, Johnny Simmons, Dakota Johnson, Jake M. Johnson and DeRay Davis with a cameo from Johnny Depp. It's expected to be more in the realm of the Apatow comedies rather than a homage to the original series.

Elodie Yung To Play Jinx In G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes

HeatVision reports French actress Elodie Yung is in talks to play the role of Jinx in G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes. Jinx is a Joe who like Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow is a member of the Arashikage Ninja Clan. Yung is no stranger to action she had a rather psychical role in the French action film District 13: Ultimatum. She also has a role in David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo playing Rooney Mara's girlfriend.

Elodie would join Dwayne Johnson (Roadblock), Channing Tatum (Duke) and Ray Park (Snake Eyes). It's also expected that Byung Hun Lee will return as Storm Shadow since he's gaining a lot of praise for his work in the Korean thriller I Saw The Devil. I have to admit I'm starting to become impressed with the new additions to the cast. They seem to be actually setting up a viable action film franchise here.

G.I. Joe 2 Gets August 2012 Release Date

It looks like Paramount is revving up movement on G.I. Joe: Revenge of Cobra. As it's release date has been officially set for August 10th 2012. It's likely that date will be changed as The Bourne Legacy and the Total Recall reboot are also being released on the same day. This gives the impression that Paramount is going to start production in the next couple of months and expect re-casting announcements soon.

Rachel Nichols Says Duke, Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow Are The Only Ones Returning For G.I. Joe 2

Actress Rachel Nichols who starred in Rise of Cobra tweeted that the only returning cast members would be Channing Tatum, Ray Park and Byung-Hun Lee. While this doesn't seem too shocking it does speak volumes on the direction Paramount and new director Jon M. Chu will be going with the sequel. 

I wouldn't be shocked if they go for a bit of a reboot with the sequel. The first film while fun did a lot of damage to the canon of the franchise. Mainly ruining the look and characteristics of the Baroness and Cobra Commander essentially the best villains of the series likely contributed by recently ousted director Stephen Sommers.


I'm still on the fence about Tatum as an actor as he hasn't given a lot of standout performances but playing a role like Duke doesn't need a awards caliber actor. Ray Park was solid as rock in the first film except his costume's mask looked more like a bondage outfit. Hopefully they fix all the awful costume issues in the new film. Lee also was excellent in the film and will be gathering a lot of film geek praise for his role in the Korean thriller I Saw The Devil. 


It's not surprised they aren't asking Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller and Christopher Eccleston as they phoned in their performances. Talented actors like Joesph Gordon and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje could have gone onto greener pastures as they have since been involved in some high profile projects making them more expensive. I'd like to see them bring in some new talent but keep the Cobra characters in place and even expanding on them.

Brie Larson Replaces Emma Stone In 21 Jump Street

Deadline reports that Brie Larson (United States of Tara) has come on to replace Emma Stone as the female lead in 21 Jump Street. Stone had to bow out of the production to focus on Spider-Man. Larson is quickly becoming a more exposed actress herself landing roles in Rampart and Scott Pilgrim.

The film already boats a decent cast which includes Jonah Hill who is doubling as the film's writer with Channing Tatum and Ice Cube. The film is based on the 80's television series which young police officers posed as undercover high school students to bust drug deals and other criminals. Johnny Depp got his start in Hollywood on the show and has mentioned he'd love to do a cameo in the film.