In a perfect storm of movie casting for ambitious young acting talent, some major movies that could make (or break) the next rising star are all in a simultaneous casting process. Here’s a look at the latest developments:

• Michael Bay is set to start screen testing actors for leads in Transformers 4, which centers on Mark Wahlberg’s character, his daughter and her boyfriend, a race car driver.
• Divergent, which carries heavy Hunger Games or Twilight-sized franchise hopes, is narrowing its scope for the male lead opposite Shailene Woodley.
• DreamWorks’ Need for Speed adaptation is looking for other racers to fill in the cast alongside leads Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots and possibly Dominic Cooper.

Hit the jump for much more on each picture.

Principal actors Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen are already slated to return for the Taken sequel, but director Olivier Megaton (Colombiana) needs new actors to replace all the ones Bryan Mills (Neeson) killed in the original. We know the villain will be Rade Serbedzija (Snatch), playing the father of one of the slain kidnappers who takes Mills and his ex-wife (Janssen) hostage. Luke Grimes (Brothers & Sisters) has been cast as the love interest of Mills’ daughter (Grace) and will most likely play a part in helping her rescue her parents.

In other casting news, Barry Sloane (Holby City) will join Michelle Monaghan (Source Code) and Michael Keaton as Keaton’s partner in crime in Penthouse North. Lastly, Jerry Ferrara (Entourage) has been added to the cast of airplane-thriller, 7500. The film, by director Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge) also stars Ryan Kwanten, Amy Smart, Leslie Bibb and Jamie Chung. Hit the jump for more on each project.

Slated to start production in March, director Roland Emmerich (2012) is looking to cast the male lead for his next sci-fi project, Singularity. Set 40 years in the future, Singularity is not the disaster-fare we’ve come to expect from Emmerich, but something else entirely. He’s not saying much about the project, co-written with Harald Kloser, but it occurs at a time when our technology is so advanced, there is the potential that we lose control of it. The lead of the film will be Adam, a young man composed entirely of a swarm of nanobots which grant him amazing powers.

A number of relative unknowns will meet to read for the role this week, including TV stars Luke Grimes (Brothers and Sisters), Logan Marshall Green (Dark Blue) and Julian Morris (Pretty Little Liars). Hit the jump for more on Singularity.