Let’s get to a couple of casting announcements, shall we?

• Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern) is reportedly circling The Voices, a psychological thriller directed by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) from a Black List script by Michael R. Perry (Paranormal Activity).
• Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) is in talks to join director Wes Anderson’s Europe-set picture, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Hit the jump for more on both actors and films.

After the impressive success of their animated feature, Persepolis, Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi return to the big screen with Chicken with Plums, a captivating live-action fairytale full of whimsy, humor, magic and despair.  Adapted from Satrapi’s graphic novel of the same name about a renowned musician who loses interest in life after the destruction of his favorite violin, the film pays homage to a number of well-known filmmakers and cinematic styles.

In an exclusive interview, I talked to Paronnaud about their decision to adapt Satrapi’s graphic novel to film, how their aesthetic worlds complement one another, how they collaborated on co-directing the film, what impressed him most about working with live actors, and why they chose the film’s unusual narrative structure and marriage of styles.  Paronnaud also revealed he is currently working on a comic book about the Old and the New Testament and a screenplay for a very violent thriller.  Hit the jump for more.

Oscar-nominated director Marjane Satrapi brings magic to the screen once again with Chicken with Plums, her second full-length movie co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud, which opens in Los Angeles on August 31st.  It’s a stylish, timeless fable filled with humor, caprice and melancholy about a talented musician who loses his will to live.  Adapted from Satrapi’s graphic novel of the same name, Chicken with Plums is the second volume in a trilogy that began with Persepolis and stars Mathieu Amaric with Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Isabella Rossellini and Edouard Baer.

In an exclusive interview, Satrapi talked to us about the graphic novel that inspired the film, what it was like shifting from animation to live action direction, what fueled her creative collaboration with Paronnaud, and how she dealt with the challenges of marrying distinctly different visual styles and genres in a non-linear storyline.  She also discussed her upcoming project, Tale of the Hanging Head.  Hit the jump for more.

A curious little project has come to our attention, and it’s quite exciting. A number of international directors are coming together to helm segments of an animated folk tale anthology called Tales from the Hanging Head. Filmmaker Sara Driver spilled the details on the project, revealing that she’ll be directing a story alongside Alfonso Cuaron, Michel Gondry, Marjane Satrapi, and Emir Kusturica. It’s a series of folk tales for children, linked together by the common thread of metamorphosis. Hit the jump for more.

Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, the duo who adapted Satrapi 2000′s graphic novel Persepolis, are re-teaming to adapt Satrapi’s 2006 book Chicken with Plums with Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly).  The live-action adaptation, which will be re-titled Waiting for Azrael, is also a true story of life in Iran, this time focusing on her great-uncle Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran’s most revered musicians.  Ion Cinema also reports that Amalric will be joined by an American A-list actor but wouldn’t say who at this time.

Hit the jump for the official product description.  Filming is set to begin this summer in Berlin.