Some major veteran casting announcements to announce today:

• Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) will join the Grudge Match between Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in the Peter Segal-directed picture.
• Thomas Jane (The Punisher), Nick Nolte (Warrior) and Jeremy Irons (Die Hard: With a Vengeance) have joined the indie Western thriller, A Magnificent Death, to be directed by Jane.

Hit the jump for more on both pictures. 

The cast for the thriller Over the Wall is starting to fill out. Kim Basinger, Nick Stahl and Freddy Rodriguez are all attached to star in the film, with Jennifer Morrison in advanced negotiations to join them. Variety reports that Steven Christopher Young will make his feature directorial debut on the flick, which is being produced by Young and Larry Meistrich.

The love story takes place in the world of stock-car racing and tells the story of how a tragic accident rocks the lives of four people. Production is set to begin this summer in Ohio. The project is currently being shopped at Cannes.

I like Zac Efron. I think the guy’s genuinely talented and unfairly gets a bad wrap. He’s more than likely got a very successful film career ahead of him, full of deep and thought provoking films. Charlie St. Cloud is not one of those films.  St. Cloud is, of course, one of Efron’s first forays into straight dramatic fare and unfortunately it’s a bit of a misfire. Films like this come out of Hollywood all the time: great-looking small town star is subject to a tragic event, gets ostracized from said town and becomes great-looking emotionally damaged outcast in whom great-looking female takes an interest, much to great-looking female’s friends and family’s dismay.  Charlie St. Cloud is no exception to this cliché and, for the most part, plays like one. My review after the jump.

The trailer for the drama Charlie St. Cloud has gone online.  The movie stars Zac Efron as a young man who gives up sailing after his kid brother is killed in a car accident.  However, Charlie is able to see his dead brother and play catch with him every day.  This is all well and good until he falls in love with a girl who reignites his passion for sailing and his need to move on with his life.

It seems like this would be a more powerful story if it were about the relationship between a father and his deceased son rather than between two brothers.  Then again, that could also be too heavy for today’s delicate audiences.  It doesn’t really matter since this is one of those trailers that takes you through the entire plot of the movie.  Hit the jump and watch it at your own risk.  Charlie St. Cloud opens on July 30th.

Today we get our first look at the romantic drama Charlie St. Cloud, which stars Zac Efron.  Based on the novel by Ben Sherwood, the film centers around a “young man who survives an accident that lets him see the world in a unique way.”  Alongside Efron, the cast includes Amanda Crew, Donal Logue, Charlie Tahan, Kim Basinger, and Ray Liotta.  Burr Steers (17 Again) directs from a script by Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge!) and Lewis Colick (Ladder 49).

The film doesn’t look like my cup of tea, but I hope for big things from Efron, and this seems to represent a step in the right direction away from teen stardom.  The beginning of his career his not all too dissimilar from that of Leonardo DiCaprio, if I may make a bold comparison.  Check out new images and a full plot synopsis after the break.

Magnolia Pictures just sent over a beautiful poster for their new film “The Burning Plain”, starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.  The film is described as a “romantic mystery” but – because it was written and directed by Guillermo Arriaga (“21 Grams”, “Babel”) – I think it’s safe to assume that those two adjectives could not possibly sum up all of the complexity and nuance that Arriaga is able to pack into two hours.  “The Burning Plain” will be available on VOD beginning August 21^st and in a limited theatrical run on September 18^th.   Follow the jump to read the film’s synopsis and to get a better look at the lovely back of Ms. Theron…