Here’s today’s casting update:

• Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter series) is set to star in crime-thriller Tokyo Vice for music video/commercials director Anthony Mandler, scripted by playwright JT Rogers.
• Naomi Watts (King Kong) and Adam Driver (Girls) are in talks to join Ben Stiller (Zoolander) in the Noah Baumbach-directed midlife crisis comedy, While We’re Young.
• James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas) and Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries) have joined the Luke Greenfield-directed comedy, Let’s Be Cops.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

It’s been quite some time since we heard anything about 20th Centry Fox’s new adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic Frankenstein, but the last word on the project was that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was possibly interested in taking on a starring role.  The project has been in development for a couple of years, with Shawn Levy initially attached to direct before Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin, Sherlock) stepped in as his replacement last September.  The pic has a script by Chronicle scribe Max Landis, and now it looks as if things with Radcliffe are actually firming up as the actor is in final talks to play Igor.  Hit the jump for more.

If poetry doesn’t broaden our view of our world and force us to push the boundaries of our lives, then it’s pointless.  Poetry cannot always tap into the chaos and beauty of life if it must be constrained by meter, verse, and rules set down centuries ago.  Poetry, when wielded by genius, can seduce, defend, condemn, and most importantly, transform.  Words are powerful enough to change the world, but even in the hands of the most gifted writers, they can be futile against our frailties, insecurities, and desires.  In his magnificent debut feature, director and co-writer John Krokidas has created a moving, exhilarating, and heartbreaking film in Kill Your Darlings.  Led by breathtaking performances by stars Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, and Ben Foster, Kill Your Darlings watches the greatest writers of a generation push the boundaries of modern American culture only to find that even the best words, the most well-spoken words, the most honest words, can fail when spoken to a shattered heart.

The first official image from writer/director John Krokidas’ upcoming drama Kill Your Darlings has been released online.  The film focuses on the origins of the Beat movement and follows the friendships of Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster) as they’re tested by the murder of David Kammerer, a man in his thirties who is desperately in love with Ginsberg’s friend Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan).  I’m fascinated to see how this story plays out on screen, and I look forward to catching the film when it premieres at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

Hit the jump to check out the image and full synopsis.  The film also stars Michael C. Hall and Elizabeth Olsen.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27.  

We previously brought you images of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter series) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) sharing a bathtub, but now you can watch then in motion in the first trailer for A Young Doctor’s Notebook.  Based on the short stories of Mikhail Bulgakov, A Young Doctor’s Notebook stars Hamm as a post-WWI doctor struggling to come to grips with his self-doubt.  He often interacts with his younger self (Radcliffe) and makes hilariously sarcastic observations, as you can see in the following trailer.  The series debuts in the UK on December 6th.  Hit the jump to check it out.

We’ve got a few interesting set photos to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• The Hangover Part III – We previously knew that director Todd Phillips’ trilogy closer would at least be spending some time in Las Vegas, and this image shows Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms filming scenes inside Caesar’s Palace.
• Dom Hemingway – Star Jude Law is looking plenty intimidating as the lead opposite Madalina Ghenea in this crime comedy about a safe-cracker who gets out of prisoner and sets out to obtain what he’s owed.
• Horns – Daniel Radcliffe stars as a young man who wakes up to find himself accused of the violent rape and murder of his girlfriend and sprouting horns on his head.  Harry Potter looks sufficiently troublesome in these set photos as fights back against a couple of cops.

Hit the jump to check out the set photos.

Now available on DVD/Blu-ray is the romantic dramedy Ruby Sparks, from directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine), about a once-famous novelist named Calvin (Paul Dano), who creates a beautiful fictitious character named Ruby (Zoe Kazan) that not only brings his work to life, but actually literally comes to life.  TheDVD/Blu-ray special features include Behind the Story, Real-Life Couples: Co-stars & Directors, Be Careful What You Wish For and the theatrical trailer.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, the film’s star and screenwriter Zoe Kazan talked about how writing this feature came about, when she realized that she and her real-life boyfriend Paul Dano would be playing the roles, what writing allows her that acting doesn’t, how she originally had a different ending for the story, that she always wanted to leave the reasons for Ruby’s existence unexplained, how she just finished writing the first draft of a new project, and working with Daniel Radcliffe (the Harry Potter franchise) on The F Word.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

In what’s sure to be today’s most good-looking story, the first images of Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe in the British miniseries A Young Doctor’s Notebook have surfaced.  The dark comedy is based on the short stories of Mikhail Bulgakov and stars Hamm as a post-WWI doctor who struggles to cover up his self-doubt and lack of confidence.  In a bit of a twist, he often interacts with a manifestation of his younger self played by Radcliffe.  These first images promise lots and lots of brooding from Hamm and Radcliffe, so get excited folks.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  A Young Doctor’s Notebook will air on Sky Arts 1 in the U.K. in early December, but as of yet doesn’t have a U.S. premiere date.

We previously reported that Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) may be reprising his role in a sequel to Hammer horror hit, The Woman in Black.  While a recent press release neither confirms nor denies that, it does say that Tom Harper (The Scouting Book for Boys) has been set to direct. Additionally, the production team will stay intact for the sequel.  Continuing forty years after the events of the first film, The Woman in Black: Angels of Death, sees Eel Marsh House “seized by the government during World War II, the sudden arrival of a group of evacuated children…awakens its darkest inhabitant.”  Hit the jump to see the press release.

Daniel Radcliffe has traded in his Harry Potter scar for some more obvious prosthetics in Horns, a new film from director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes).  Adapted by Keith Bunin from the Joe Hill novel of the same name, Horns centers on Ignatius “Ig” Perrish (Radcliffe), a young man who wakes up to find himself accused of the violent rape and murder of his girlfriend.  Oh, and he has horns growing out of his forehead that seem to come with the bonus powers of forcing people to confess their sins and getting them to give in to their darkest impulses.  Horns also stars Juno Temple, Max Minghella, James Remar and Kelli Garner.  Hit the jump to see the horns and to read what Radcliffe had to say about the much darker role.

After it was reported that director Shawn Levy (Real Steel) was leaving the 20th Century Fox picture, Frankenstein, it seemed as if the production might stall out completely.  Then, director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) was in talks to take over the helm as of the beginning of the month.  Now, there are rumors that Daniel Radcliffe (The Woman in Black) is showing interest in a starring role in the Mary Shelley novel adaptation.  Hit the jump to see who Radcliffe is reportedly interested in playing.

September turns out to be D-Day for sexy Blu-ray sets. Even with the unfortunate delay of The Avengers Phase 1, we’ve still got giant collections for Titanic, James Bond, Indiana Jones and Alfred Hitchcock. The good people at Warner Bros – prepping the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection to kick off the fun – likely realized early on that they needed to bring their A-game to compete, especially with the series so recently ending and a glut of other Potter DVDs and Blu-rays readily available. Looking at the new set, however, “A-game” is an understatement. It’s more like “exercising the nuclear option.” Good luck making a splash with this 600-pound gorilla in the room. Hit the jump for my full review.

The most successful film franchise of all time will be available on home video in one nifty box set early next week with the release of the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection, and a devoted fan has put together a rather impressive video retrospective to mark the occasion.  Titled “Mischief Managed,” the video goes through all eight film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s wondrous series, with scenes accompanied by the franchise’s various scores.  It’s a great watch for Harry Potter fans, but it’s also interesting to see the different directors’ visions back-to-back.  The story gets dark quite fast, but it’s neat to see it progress from the colorful, faithful touch of Chris Columbus on the first two films, to Alfonso Cuaron’s inventive and playful twist on Azkaban, to the bombastic Britishness of Mike Newell’s Goblet of Fire, and finally David Yates’ grounded yet haunting stamp on the final four films.

Hit the jump to watch the fan-made video retrospective.  The Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection will be available on September 7th.

Here are a couple of casting notes in brief:

• Heather Graham (The Hangover) is set to star opposite Selena Gomez in the indie comedy Feed the Dog, formerly titled Parental Guidance Suggested.
• Rafe Spall (Prometheus), Megan Park (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and Mackenzie Davis (Smashed) will join Daniel Radcliffe in The F Word, directed by Michael Dowse (Goon).

Hit the jump for details on each picture.

A new clip from the upcoming Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection Blu-ray and DVD has made it online, featuring Daniel Radcliff (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron) and director Alfonso Cuarón discussing the third film the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which Cuarón took over after original director Chris Columbus stepped down.  The clip is part of an epic collection that will span 31 discs, available September 7th.  However, if you want a piece of it immediately, your orders have to be in by Harry’s birthday (meaning today): July 31st.

The film discussed in the clip is a polarizing one for fans, some of whom (myself included) see it as an artistic achievement, and though it is long, it’s exceptionally engaging.  Others simply find it just long, too artsy, and very dark (especially compared to the first two films in the series).  To see the video and learn more behind-the-scenes info about the film and the upcoming collection, hit the jump.  Also, get the scoop on the all-new Harry Potter Reading Club.