The growing cast linked to Kathryn Bigelow‘s untitled thriller (formerly Kill Bin Laden) is essentially a list of our favorite character actors of the last few years: Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt, Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Edgar Ramirez.  EW adds another pair of names in Jennifer Ehle and Nash Edgerton.  Ehle has been on the rumored list for some time, but the report places her on the team that tracks down Osama Bin Laden.  As you may have guessed, Nash Edgerton is Joel’s brother.  He has done stunts for everything from the Star Wars prequels to last year’s Beginners (he and Ewan McGregor are twins from behind), but his role as a Navy SEAL in this project is part of a diverse filmmaking portfolio.  Nash has written, directed, and starred in a number of shorts, plus the feature The Square.

Hit the jump for more on the project.

As late as this past September, it looked like Joel Edgerton would star in Kathryn Bigelow‘s hunt for Osama Bin Laden film (tentatively titled Kill Bin Laden).  However, Deadline is now reporting Edgerton’s The Great Gatsby co-star Jason Clarke (The Chicago Code) is “the first actor set” for the movie, and makes no mention of his fellow Australian actor.  I’m not exactly sure what happened to Edgerton, but maybe the start date for Bin Laden getting pushed back caused a scheduling conflict (Edgerton began talks to star in the 300 sequel last week).  But I have no problem with Clarke, who will reportedly play “a terrorist hunter in service of the U.S. efforts to hunt Bin Laden.”

Deadline also reports that Bigelow is also looking at Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Jennifer Ehle (Contagion), Guy Pearce (who starred in Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker), Idris Elba (Thor), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Nina Arianda (Midnight In Paris) as possible co-stars.  That’s a whole lot of talent, and it’s not surprising that Bigelow can put together a high-caliber cast after the success of The Hurt Locker.  Production on Kill Bin Laden (written by Hurt Locker screenwriter Mark Boal) is set to begin early next year.

In Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) is asked by a deputy from the Department of Homeland Security (Enrico Colantoni) if the growing pandemic could be a terrorist attack.  “There’s no need to weaponize the bird flu,” Cheever calmly responds.  “The birds are doing that.”  Similarly, Soderbergh knows there’s no need to sensationalize a pandemic.  The pandemic is already terrifying on its own.  By realistically depicting the response to the rampant spread of an unknown virus, Soderbergh makes us feel the intensity and the helplessness of the situation.  But in attempting to capture as many sides of the story as possible, some characters become one-dimensional, plotlines fizzle out, and unintentional xenophobia overshadows the intended misophobia.

Warner Bros. has unloaded a massive number of images from Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming star-studded thriller Contagion. The film centers on the global impact of a deadly virus outbreak, showcasing the ensemble cast that includes Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Lawrence Fishbourne and Bryan Cranston. We debuted the chillingly great character posters a few weeks back, and these images give us our first look at Elliott Gould, John Hawkes and Demitri Martin in their supporting roles, as well as a number of shots of Soderbergh in action.

Hit the jump to check out the images. Contagion opens in IMAX and regular screens September 9^th.

We’re just two weeks away from the premiere of the new HBO series Game of Thrones, and while we’ve seen several different trailers for the fantasy drama, the cable network has decided a more lengthy preview is in order. Last night HBO premiered the first 14 minutes from the first episode in the series, and damn does it look exquisite. Based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire the sprawling tale set in the mythical land of Westeros tells the story of the noble Stark family who become caught up in high court intrigue when patriarch Eddard (played by Sean Bean) becomes the king’s new right-hand man. The cast also includes Mark Addy, Lena Headey, Harry Lloyd, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jennifer Ehle and Peter Dinklage. Check out the extended preview below and stay tuned for our advanced review of the first few episodes sometime soon.

We’ve already seen a pretty spectacular trailer for the anticipated HBO series Game of Thrones, the adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. Now that we finally know the series will premiere on April 17th, the spring can’t get here soon enough. Well over the weekend HBO released a new trailer for their epic drama, and while it doesn’t showcase any footage from the series, this stylized promo highlights each of the main characters with some ominous voiceover. The last whisper before the title reveal is especially powerful. Don’t forget to check out our recent interview with series star Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) and see the new trailer for yourself after the jump.  Click here for more of our coverage of Game of Thrones.

With the TCA’s (Television Critics Association) in full swing this week, all the networks and cable channels are talking about what’s coming later this year.  Along with tons of announcements, many of the networks are releasing new images.  Thankfully, HBO is one of them.  So if you’ve been looking forward to HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series Game of Thrones, hit the jump, as we’ve been given 28 images and most of them are new.

We’ve already seen a short trailer for the forthcoming epic series Game of Thrones on HBO, but it was little more than a tease. A couple other trailers have since surfaced on HBO, but with roughly the same amount of footage and little-to-no-dialogue. Now HBO has released an all-new trailer which finally gives us a better idea of the story and style behind the adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Fire and Ice. The trailer brings epic action, medieval drama and even some sexuality, a staple of any HBO series. You can check out the trailer after the jump and look forward to the series which will begin airing sometime in early 2011.

Hot on the heels of winning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for director Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.  Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle and Guy Pearce, the film tells the true story of King George VI and how he overcame a lifelong stammer to rule the United Kingdom.

I saw the film at TIFF and absolutely loved it.  It’s definitely getting nominated for every award at this year’s Oscars and it’s probably going to win most of them.  You can also count on Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter to all get nominations and I can already see Firth winning.  He’s that good.  Anyway, while the trailer is decent, the film is exceptional. The King’s Speech gets released November 26, 2010.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer:

At a certain point, you have to guess that someone might make a movie just about the casting for Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming film Contagion. Bryan Cranston and Demetri Martin will join Jennifer Ehle and Elliott Gould as the latest additions to the virus thriller, according to The Playlist, and they will find their place among the already ridiculous cast. The quartet joins Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, John Hawkes, Chin Han, and Josie Ho. Meanwhile, we have some updates on the Gina Carano-centered espionage thriller previously titled Knockout and why Contagion won’t be filmed in 3D; join me after the break for full details.

HBO has released a new image, teaser trailer, and behind-the-scenes featurette for their upcoming series Game of Thrones.  Created by D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, and based on the fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the story is set in the mythical land of Westeros and tells the story of the noble Stark family who become caught up in high court intrigue when patriarch Eddard (played by Sean Bean) becomes the king’s new right-hand man.  The series also stars Mark Addy, Lena Headey, Harry Lloyd, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jennifer Ehle and Peter Dinklage.

Hit the jump to check out the new image, teaser trailer, and behind-the-scenes featurette.  Game of Thrones is expected to air in spring 2011.

HBO has picked up Game of Thrones for a full season and ordered 9 additional episodes on top of the already shot pilot.  Based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, the plan is for each season to cover one book in the series.  There are currently four books with more on the way.  Game of Thrones will start shooting this June in Belfast and the season will air in spring 2011. The cast includes Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Harry Lloyd, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jennifer Ehle and Peter Dinklage.  Here’s how THR describes the series:

The sprawling tale set in the mythical land of Westeros tells the story of the noble Stark family who become caught up in high court intrigue when patriarch Eddard (played by Sean Bean) becomes the king’s new right-hand man.

The buzz on the series is extremely high.  Hit the jump for more:

‘Tis the season for TV news: pilot orders, pickups and casting stories have started flying as television networks, large and small, shake off the dust of their long summer hiatuses.  Earlier today we reported that HBO had picked up Martin Scorsese’s “Boardwalk Empire” to series and yet we’ve sort of let another pilot from the one-time king of pay cable, “Game of Thrones”, fall through the cracks.  But that all stops today because the network’s adaptation of the wildly popular fantasy novel has just added “300″ star Lena Headey to its cast.  If that got your attention feel free to hit the jump for details.