FilmDistrict has released the first teaser trailer for Resident Evil and The Three Musketeers director Paul W.S. Anderson’s upcoming Mount Vesuvius actioner Pompeii.  The film stars Kit Harington as an enslaved Celtic gladiator named Milo who falls in love with a noblewoman (Emily Browning) on the eve of a massive volcanic eruption that destroys Pompeii, an event that also brings him face-to-face with the man who slaughtered his family years earlier.  This teaser opens up by quietly playing on the familiar imagery of the Pompeii citizens fossilized in ash, followed by a brief glimpse of footage.  While it’s tough to suss out the character interplay from this teaser, it’s clear that Anderson is not holding back when it comes to volcano carnage (as if you thought he would).  We’ve come a long way since Dante’s Peak and Volcano, folks.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Kiefer Sutherland, Jared Harris, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, and Paz Vega.  Pompeii opens in 3D on February 21, 2014.

Today’s casting report is rather international:

• Paz Vega will join Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger, the adaptation of Nick Schou‘s non-fiction book directed by Michael Cuesta (Homeland).
  
• Peyman Moaadi (A Separation) will star opposite Kristen Stewart in the independent drama Camp X-Ray, the feature directorial debut of graphic artist Peter Sattler (Star Trek).
• Newcomer Ed Oxenbould will play the title role in Disney’s adaptation of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner co-star.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

Two pieces of casting to close out the night:

• Paz Vega will play opera singer Maria Callas in Grace of Monaco, the Grace Kelly biopic led by Nicole Kidman.
• Girls scene-stealer Adam Driver will star opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan in the romantic comedy The F Word.

Hit the jump for details on both projects.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that it has acquired North American rights to writer/director Pedro Almodovar’s next film, I’m So Excited.  Plot details are firmly under wraps, but the pic is described as an ensemble comedy written and directed by the Talk to Her filmmaker.  The cast for I’m So Excited includes Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Raul Arévalo, Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, and more, with “special collaborations” from Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and Paz Vega.

Almodovar’s most recent film, last year’s The Skin I Live In, was met with a mixed yet enthusiastic response.  Production on I’m So Excited is scheduled to get underway next month for a release date sometime next year.  Hit the jump to read the press release, which includes the full cast list.

Latino-themed production house Maya Entertainment has revealed that they have acquired both production and distribution rights for Paul Schrader’s “south-of-the-border” revenge-thriller The Jesuit. Schrader-the scribe responsible for Taxi Driver and director of American Gigolo-will fill both chairs for The Jesuit. Willem Dafoe, Michelle Rodriguez, Paz Vega and Manolo Cardona are set to star. In the press release, there was no mention of the previously-rumored Oscar Isaac (Robin Hood), so that’s up in the air as of now. Maya Entertainment and partner Open Window Films are praying for an early March 2011 start date.

Hit the jump for the official synopsis and a reassuring quote from Schrader.

We have three pieces of casting news for you (and likely more on the way because of the deals being made at the Cannes Film Festival right now).  Leading off, Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Kristen Scott Thomas will star in Lasse Hallstrom’s Salmon Fishing in Yemen, written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire).  Since THR doesn’t say what the movie’s about, I’ll move on to the casting on films where we can give you something more substantial.

First up, Jamie Foxx has signed on to Seth Gordon’s dark comedy Horrible Bosses.  Also, Paz Vega will star in Paul Schrader’s The Jesuit with Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac, and Michelle Rodriguez in final negotiations to join.  For more on both of these projects, hit the jump.

There are films that are enjoyed for their entertainment, and those that provoke the mind. But on the latter end of the spectrum, there are features that don’t quite work as films, but still manage to provoke thought and discussion. That is where Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control falls.  Hit the jump for the review: