Three first-time directors and a Brett Ratner did some casting today:

• Annette Benning and Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire) are in negotiations to star opposite Al Pacino in Imagine, the directorial debut of writer Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love).
• Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Gillian Jacobs (Community) star as two opposites in a co-dependent friendship in Life Partners, the directorial debut of Susanna Fogel.  Adam Brody, Gabourey Sidibe, Abby Elliott, and Beth Dover co-star.
• Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis) is in negotiations for the female lead in Dracula. Luke Evans stars in Gary Shore‘s directorial debut.
• Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (Chernobyl Diaries) landed the female lead in Ratner’s Hercules.  Dwayne Johnson plays the titular Greek hero.  Ian McShane and Joseph Fiennes co-star.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

One of the funniest films I saw at SXSW was Jacob Vaughan‘s Milo.  The juvenile comedy centers on a man (Ken Marino) whose stresses at home and at work causes him extraordinary gastric distress, which isn’t helped by the fact that he has a gremlin-like creature living in his colon.  Today, Magnet has announced that they’ve picked up the film for distribution.  Magnet is definitely a good fit for the film, and I assume the company will go their normal route of releasing the film on VOD before giving it a limited theatrical release.  No release date has been announced, but hopefully audiences will get to see the movie later this year.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  Milo also stars Gillian Jacobs, Patrick Warburton, Mary Kay Place, Peter Stormare, and Stephen Root.

Jacob Vaughan‘s Milo is revelatory in multiple ways.  It’s a sly comment on our culture’s obsession with stress and how to relieve it.  It’s an intimate family drama about a man afraid of becoming a father when he was abandoned by his own.  Most of all, Milo proves you can get a surprising amount of comic mileage from an anal demon.  Vaughan’s comedy is one of the most juvenile films I’ve ever seen, but works because of its completely sincerity rather than celebrating its own sense of humor.  As silly as Milo gets, Vaughan and his actors play the proceedings completely straight-faced, and let the comedy shine through where the sun don’t shine.

While we’re all waiting for Community to come back on the air, star Gillian Jacobs has been busy padding out her movie schedule. The latest addition for the comedienne is writer/director Steven Brill’s Walk of Shame, a picture that already boasts Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden and Ethan Suplee. The picture centers on a news anchor (Banks) who finds herself out on the street after a drunken one-night stand with no money, identification or means of travel. Her shameful trek across Los Angeles is fraught with misadventures as she attempts to make it to a career-changing job interview. Jacobs will play the protag’s best friend. Hit the jump for more.

At long last, Community has a premiere date.  The Dan Harmon-less fourth season of the whip smart comedy series was initially set to premiere this month on Fridays, then NBC announced that they were holding the show for an unspecified premiere date sometime in the future.  Many assumed that the network was saving the series as a replacement in the event that one of their new comedy shows got cancelled, but when Animal Practice was given the axe NBC gave the timeslot to Whitney instead.

The cast put together a sort of fan-appreciation video in the wake of the delay news, and now finally some good news has surfaced as star Yvette Nicole Brown announced on Twitter that the fourth season will premiere on Thursday, February 7th at 8pm.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: NBC has confirmed the date with the release of their full midseason schedule, which is included after the jump and announces a break for Revolution, a move for Smash, and more.]

Community fans have become experts in the virtue of patience.  We’ve been jerked around so many times regarding when/where/if one of the smartest and funniest shows on TV will actually be on TV that we’re no longer shocked when NBC asks us to “trust them” and wait “a little bit longer” to see new episodes.  The upcoming Dan Harmon-less fourth season of Community was initially slated to begin on October 19th (ie. today), but NBC recently reneged on that decision in favor of holding Community and Whitney as replacements for when their new comedy series go belly-up.  Animal Practice was cancelled yesterday, but NBC naturally decided to replace it with Whitney instead of Community.

The wonderful ensemble cast knows how much the show means to their fans, so they’ve put together a great little video in which Troy and Abed try to explain why the show’s fourth season doesn’t have a premiere date.  The clip is filled with in-jokes and fan appreciation galore.  Seriously, this cast is the best.  Hit the jump to take a look.  Season four of Community premieres someday. [Update: We've updated the article with a clip from the season premiere.]

NBC continues to kick Community to the curb.  The studio announced today that it would be bumping the season four return of the fan-favorite show from their expected Friday, October 19th date to an unspecified future date.  Sophomore comedy series, Whitney, will also be moving to Fridays, but that show’s debut date is up in the air as well.  NBC cited the need for more time to make a marketing push in the case of each series.

I can’t imagine that Community needs to be marketed any more, with the off-season fireworks of creator/showrunner Dan Harmon being let go; the fourth season will be run by Moses Port and David Guarascio.  I also can’t imagine a scenario in which marketing will get me to watch Whitney.  In the meantime, NBC will air re-runs of the first season of Grimm from 8-9pm on Fridays, which will lead into new episodes of the supernatural procedural.  Hit the jump to see who will be returning to Community if and when it returns.

NBC’s Community will feature a holiday family reunion of sorts when Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) comes face to face with his father during the show’s upcoming Thanksgiving episode.  In the episode titled “Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations,” fans will finally be introduced to William Winger, the estranged father whom Jeff hasn’t seen since he was a child.  Playing the elder Winger is none other than James Brolin (Marcus Welby, M.D.).  Community season four premieres at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19.  Hit the jump for more on season four and a set photo of McHale and Brolin.

Rather than dump your hard-earned money into private school tuition, why not cut a check to go to Greendale Community College instead? The cast of NBC’s Community is getting ready to air season four this fall and they’d love for you to visit them!  All it takes is a winning charitable donation that benefits the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, and you and a friend will be heading to Greendale and going home with a signed script and photos! Hit the jump to find out how to win!

The Greendale Seven are about to be schooled by Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) when he joins the cast of Community this fall.  McDowell is set to star in two episodes as a history professor (I hope they find a way to work A Clockwork Orange in).  THR reports that his character will be named Professor Cornwallis.  McDowell is the latest addition to the faculty, as British comedian Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids) recently joined as well.  Look for Community’s return to NBC in its new time slot, Friday nights at 8:30pm starting October 19th.

Fans are approaching the upcoming fourth season of Community with more than a little trepidation, as this will be the first batch of episodes of the show produced without creative genius Dan Harmon onboard as showrunner.  Though the change will likely not be insignificant, it’s important to remember that the series has one of the most talented casts working in television.  A gag reel from the upcoming season three DVD has now landed online that puts these actors’ ridiculous comedic talent on full display, and it’s really damn funny to boot.  The highlight comes towards the end as Donald Glover throws out suggestions to Alison Brie and the actress pulls off a master class in reactionary facial expressions.

Hit the jump to watch the gag reel.  Season three is available on DVD on August 14th, and season four premieres on October 19th on NBC.

Two more bits of casting news this evening.  Here they are in brief:

• Yancy Butler, who appeared as Angie D’Amico in Kick-Ass, is set to return in the same role for the Jeff Wadlow-directed sequel.
• Jonathan Daniel Brown (Project X) is set to join the cast of the horror comedy Milo, also starring Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs and Peter Stormare.

Hit the jump for details on both projects.

When last we talked about NBC’s cult comedy series, Community, we were at Comic-Con, rejoicing that the entire cast would be returning, but lamenting the absence of creator and show-runner, Dan Harmon.  While we wait to see if new overseers David Guarascio and Moses Port can keep the old Community magic, season four will see an infusion of overseas humor with the addition of British comedian, Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids). Lucas, perhaps best known for British comedy series Little Britain, will star as Greendale Community College’s newest faculty member.  Hit the jump for more details on his character as well as a look at a great fan-made Inspector Spacetime poster.

Community is one of the best comedies on television.  But this offseason saw upheaval in the departure of Creator/Executive Producer Dan Harmon.  They were so unsure about a return that the last episode of the third season could act as a series finale.  Still, a fervent fan base has given the quirky show a fourth season, even if it comes with a move to Fridays.  The first table read is set for August 6th with shooting to begin August 13th.  Five of the cast sat down to talk about the upcoming season, the departure and the bit of plot they could share (the appearance of Jeff’s dad).  More after the break.

A bunch of TV stars found their way into the movies and one Hunger Games actor saw the odds turn in his favor. Here’s your big-screen casting round-up:

• Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) will star in independent Canadian comedy Sex and Sunsets.
• Dianna Agron (Glee) will join Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in Luc Besson’s action-comedy Malavita
• Gillian Jacobs (Community) will co-star in horror-comedy Milo
• The Hunger Games’ Dayo Okeniyi will play in Runner Runner starring Ben Affleck and indie high school drama The Spectacular Now

Hit the jump for more on all four projects.