Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nick Hornby (An Education) is set to adapt Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, with Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) in the lead. The true-life tale tells of Strayed’s journey to traverse the 1,100-mile Pacific Crest Trail alone after her mother died, her family fractured and her marriage failed, all at the age of 22. Witherspoon will also produce the picture along with Bruna Papandrea and River Road Entertainment’s Bill Pohlad. Hit the jump for comments from Hornby and Witherspoon, as well as a synopsis of the book. 

Filming has commenced on director Pascal Chaumeil’s (Heartbreaker) adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel A Long Way Down.  The story revolves around a group of strangers who coincidentally meet on the top of a London skyscraper on New Year’s Eve where they individually had gone to commit suicide.  The four strangers make a pact to stay alive until Valentine’s Day at least, and the story follows this group of unlikely friends “as they try to pull back from the brink.”  The ensemble cast includes Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, and Imogen Poots, with Sam Neill and Rosamund Pike (Pride and Prejudice) also signing on.

The four central strangers are played by Brosnan, Collette, Paul, and Poots, who are set as a once-beloved TV personality, single mother, failed musician turned pizza-delivery boy and a “sassy teen” respectively.  Hornby is the author behind such great works as High Fidelity, About a Boy and Fever Pitch, so the source material is a solid foundation.  Jack Thorne (How I Live Now) wrote the screenplay and production is taking place in England and Spain.  Hit the jump to read the full press release (which includes a synopsis) and to check out the first image.

Some big name casting news for you today.  Here are the headlines:

• Willem Dafoe will join Christian Bale and Casey Affleck in the dramatic thriller, Out of the Furnace, written and directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).
• Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will star in the 1950s period piece, Brooklyn, adapted from Colm Toibin’s best-selling novel about a woman torn between her family in Ireland and her new found love for an American.

Hit the jump for more on both projects.

As I’ve been saying for the past few days…opening this Friday is a fantastic film called “An Education”. The movie was written by Nick Hornby and it was based on a memoir by Lynn Barber. Anyway, it’s a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl (Carey Mulligan) in 1960s suburban London and how her life changes after meeting a man nearly twice her age (Peter Sarsgaard). While the entire cast was great, Carey Mulligan’s performance was another level. Her work is exceptional, and I believe she’s a lock for getting nominated come awards season. Anyway, I recently say down with Peter Sarsgaard and we talked box office numbers, Twitter, the Nintendo Wii, filming the movie, his next film “Wichita”, and a lot more. It’s one of those all over the place interviews and that’s why it’s great. Take a look:

Opening this Friday is a fantastic film called “An Education”. The movie was written by Nick Hornby and it’s based on a memoir by Lynn Barber. Anyway, it’s a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl (Carey Mulligan) in 1960s suburban London and how her life changes after meeting a man nearly twice her age (Peter Sarsgaard). While the entire cast was great, Carey Mulligan’s performance was another level. Her work is exceptional and I believe she’s a lock for getting nominated come awards season. Anyway, I recently say down with Dominic Cooper (he plays Peter Sarsgaard’s best friend) and we talked about how his career has taken off, how does he decide to take a project, what has he been working on, and I even got in a “Mamma Mia 2″ question. It’s a great interview so take a look:

Opening this Friday is a fantastic film called “An Education”. The movie was written by Nick Hornby and it’s based on the memoir by Lynn Barber. Anyway, it’s a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl (Carey Mulligan) in 1960s suburban London and how her life changes after meeting a man nearly twice her age (Peter Sarsgaard). While the entire cast was great, Carey Mulligan’s performance was another level. Her work is exceptional and I think she’s a lock for getting nominated come awards season. Anyway, I recently say down with director Lone Scherfig and we talked about the challenges of making the movie and a lot more. Watch the interview after the jump: