Diego Luna in Talks for Neill Blomkamp’s ELYSIUM; Cyndi Lauper Joins THE LAST BEAT

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this evening. First up, Variety reports that Diego Luna is in talks to join director Neill Blomkamp’s (District 9) highly anticipated upcoming sci-fi flick Elysium. The cast now includes Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, Wagner Moura, Sharlto Copley and Alice Braga. Plot details are under wraps, but Foster recently stated that she plays the head of an alien planet, and we know that the story is set 100 years in the future on a distant planet. Blomkamp wrote and will direct the film which is set to begin filming this summer. Elysium hits theaters on March 1^st, 2013.

Additionally, the perpetually crazy-haired Cyndi Lauper has joined the cast of Robert Saitzyk’s music-centered flick The Last Beat. Written and directed by Saitzyk, the film centers on “a rock star who goes to Paris in a search for a more artistic existence  as a poet and writer.” THR reports that the original soundtrack will feature songs inspired by 70’s music (from Rock to French Pop), and filming is set to commence in Paris this summer. The cast includes Shawn Andrews (Dazed and Confused), French actress Virginie Ledoyen, Cameron Richardson (Hard Breakers) and Seymour Cassel (The Royal Tenenbaums).