We have a few casting stories for you this afternoon.  First up, Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) is set to star in A Monster Calls, the new film from director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible).   The story, written by Patrick Ness from an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, "tells the tale of a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother’s illness and the bullying of classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith."  According to Deadline, Jones will play "Mum", and Liam Neeson is being courted to play the Monster.  Jones will next be seen in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and is co-starring opposite Jonah Hill and James Franco in the drama True Story.

Hit the jump for casting news regarding Emily Browning (Pompeii) and Mark Strong (Low Winter Sun).

According to THR, Emily Browning is in talks to join Tom Hardy in the crime thriller Legends.  Written and directed by Brian Helgeland (42), the period film has Hardy in the dual roles of identical twins Reggie and Robbie Kray, who were notorious "for their criminal exploits in London during the 1950s and 1960s."  Per THR, "Browning will play a young woman who tragically falls for Reggie and marries him, hoping he will change his gangster ways."  You mean marrying someone doesn't stop them from being a criminal?  Oh, I have made a big mistake.

Finally, Mark Strong is known for his more dramatic roles, but he has signed on to join the upcoming Sacha Baron Cohen comedy, Grimsby.  The story revolves around a British black-ops spy who is forced to go on the run with his long-lost brother, an idiotic English soccer hooligan.  Deadline reports that Cohen will play the hooligan while Strong will play the spy.  That sounds like a ridiculously fun pairing, and I'm excited to see how the two actors will play off each other.  Grimsby, directed by Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me), opens July 31, 2015.

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