An American, a Canadian and a German each found work in the movies today. Here’s who was cast in what:

  • Denis Leary has been added to the ensemble of football drama Draft Day.
  • Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) has signed up for Pompeii, Paul W.S. Anderson’s latest 3D actioner.
  • Antje Traue (Man of Steel) will get her Ancient Greek on as the latest recruit for Brett Ratner’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

The Ivan Reitman-directed Draft Day focuses on the efforts of the Cleveland Browns’ general manager (Kevin Costner) to acquire the #1 pick at the draft. Leary will bring his amusingly acerbic shtick to the role of the team’s new head coach, who butts heads with Costner. Also, Jennifer Garner will be there. Per Deadline, a portion of the film will be shot at this year’s NFL entry draft, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. Also worth noting: the script for this one, written by Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph, previously resided at the tippy-top of the 2012 Black List, which tracks Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays.

Tired of futzing about with three-dimensional bullets and zombie brains, Paul W.S. Anderson (the Resident Evil series) will stretch himself like never before with a foray into 3D swords, spears and horse-hair plumes for Pompeii. The adventure pic is set amidst the infamous 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which engulfed the titular Roman city, flash-freezing it in a macabre tableaux of volcanic ash. The film narrows its scope to the quest of one young slave (Game of ThronesKit Harington), fighting to rescue his beloved Flavia (Sleeping Beauty’s Emily Browning) from the clutches of an evil general. Per Deadline, Moss, who currently co-stars on CBS’ Vegas, will play Flavia’s mother, as production moves from Pompeii to Toronto.  Jessica Lucas (Evil Dead) and Jared Harris (Mad Men) also star.

And finally, hot off the Twitter page of “so excited” director Brett Ratner (in a Tweet that has since been deleted), Antje Traue has signed up for an unspecified role in his Dwayne Johnson-starring Hercules: The Thracian Wars (that’s not to be confused with the Renny Harlin-directed, Kellan Lutz-starring Hercules 3D, which is also coming out some time in 2014). An allegedly grittier take on the heroes of old, The Thracian Wars is based on a Steve Moore graphic novel, wherein Hercules, along with six of his blood-thirsty companions, endeavor to train the army of Thrace in the art of ass-kickery. Though her role is, as yet, unknown, it is my understanding that one of Herc’s battle buddies in this adventure is a badass huntress named Atalanta; Traue would seem a logical fit, given her action-oriented roles in Pandorum and (presumably) Zack Snyder’s forthcoming Man of Steel, wherein she’ll play Faora, wife of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and periodic occupant of the Phantom Zone (a.k.a. that spinning glass prison thingy). At any rate, the German actress will be joining a cast that already includes John Hurt, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell (Dark City) and Joseph Fiennes. Filming will get underway next month in Hungary in anticipation of a July 25, 2014 release.

antje-traue-hercules