Here’s the first of what promises to be a lot of casting news over the next few days:

• Olga Kurylenko (Oblivion) and Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) clash in Stephen Campanelli’s action thriller, Momentum.  Morgan Freeman (Now You See Me) and Shea Whigham (Silver Linings Playbook) co-star.
• Rupert Grint (CBGB), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas) and Jason Flemyng (X-Men: First Class), Neil Maskell (Kill List) and Joe Gilgun (This is England) join Vincent Regan’s Macbeth adaptation, Enemy of Man, with Sean Bean (Game of Thrones) in the lead.
• Tom Hopper (Knights of Badassdom), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Irish actress Charlie Murphy (Philomena), Ed Skrein (The Sweeney), Ken Duken (Inglorious Basterds), Anatole Taubman (Quantum of Solace) and James Norton (Rush) star in Claudio Fäh’s Northmen – A Viking Saga.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

29 images have been released from the upcoming film, CBGB.  Alan Rickman leads the picture as struggling club owner Hilly Kristal, who had a vision of bringing country, bluegrass and blues music to the lower Eastside venue which ultimately became a proving ground for rock-and-roll and punk bands.  It is the story of a venue as renowned for its performers as it is for the filthiness of its restroom.  I’ll be curious to hear what people who actually went to CBGB when it was open think of the film (the club closed in 2006).

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Rupert Grint, Malin Akerman, Ashley Greene, Johnny Galecki, Donal Logue, Mickey Sumner, and Justin Bartha.  CBGB opens October 11th.

Ron Weasley is heading to the small screen.  Rupert Grint has been set to lead the CBS pilot Super Clyde, which centers on a young man who decides to become a superhero.  Grint will play Clyde, a fast-food worker and avid comic book reader who considers himself borderline agoraphobic with mild to severe anxiety issues.  Clyde wishes he were a superhero himself, and when he inherits a $100,000 a month inheritence from his deceased eccentric uncle, “he decides that the cash will be his secret super power and will use it only for good and reward the good-hearted.”  So it’s like a My Name Is Earl reboot with a dash of Batman thrown in for good measure.  Hit the jump for more.

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.

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.

The cast for Randall Miller’s indie pic CBGB is heating up with the addition of Ashley Greene (Twilight) in the lead role.  Named after the iconic New York club where punk music earned a good part of its history, CBGB already stars Malin Akerman, Rupert Grint, Johnny Galecki, Joel David Moore, Stana Katic and more.  Greene is in talks to star as Lisa Kristal, the daughter of club owner, Hilly Kristal, who will be played by Alan Rickman. The script was co-written by Miller and Jody Savin (the duo previously wrote Bottle Shock). CBGB plans to shoot later this month in Savannah, Georgia before moving production to New York.  Hit the jump for more details on Greene’s character and on CBGB.

Some quick casting bits today.  Here they are in brief:

• Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) is set to join Haley Joel Osment (Sixth Sense) in the sci-fi mystery, I’ll Follow You Down.
• Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) will join Shia LaBeouf in the noir romance film, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.

Hit the jump for more.

Some easy on the eyes casting additions today.  Here they are at a glance:

• Malin Akerman (Watchmen) will star as “Blondie” front-woman, Debbie Harry in director Randall Miller’s indie, CBGB.
• Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) is in talks to join Plush, a psychic story from director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight).
• Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) will star opposite Ashton Kutcher in the Steve Jobs indie picture, Jobs, from director Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote).

Hit the jump for more on each film.

Though Ron Weasley will always be the defining role of his career, Rupert Grint isn’t short on post-Harry Potter employment. The young Brit has lined up a pair of pretty intriguing projects; first up comes confirmation that he’s climbed aboard Fredrik Bond’s action-comedy-romance The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman. While the details of his role are unknown at this point, the film stars Shia LaBeouf as a hapless fellow that falls in love with a woman (Evan Rachel Wood) who’s lorded over by an unhinged mob boss (Mads Mikkelsen). Oscar winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds) are set to play LaBeouf’s deceased (but still communicative) mother and a Serbian war criminal respectively. All told, it’s a pretty fantastic assemblage of on-screen talent. More than anything, I’m looking forward to Mads “Le Chiffre” Mikkelsen busting out his “insanely violent” side; I simply never tire of watching that man commit unspeakable deeds.

The script for Countryman comes from Project X scribe Matt Drake. It’s currently filming in Romania. Hit the jump for more, plus details on Grint’s other new project, CBGB.

Chloe Moretz and Rupert Grint have signed on to join Aaron Eckhart and Vera Farmiga in the The Drummer.  Director Randy Miller‘s indie music biopic focuses on the last six years life of Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson (played by Eckhart).  As we reported in January, Farmiga will play Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Christine McVie, who sparked a passionate and tumultuous relationship before Wilson’s death in 1983.  According to Variety, Moretz will play Wilson’s daughter Jennifer, and Grint has been cast as “Stan Shapiro, a mail room intern at the talent agency William Morris, who befriended Wilson during the last few years of the musician’s life.”  Jennifer Wilson is co-producing the film along with her half-brother Carl.

Filming is set to begin June 15th.  Moretz will next be seen in Tim Burton‘s Dark Shadows.  The Drummer will be Grint’s first major role since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Warner Brothers did what they could to drag it out, but after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the Harry Potter franchise is finally closed. Perhaps not for good – author J.K. Rowling has got her new Potter-centric website, and she may get bored and write another adventure in that universe. But no matter if it comes back or not, for performers Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint Potter will be part of their legacy. They spent ten years playing Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. And no matter what they do, they are as stuck to this as Sean Connery is to James Bond.  Continued after the jump.

As I write today, in the back of mind rests more than a handful of permutations for my Black Friday plan of attack. Do I really need a new 42 inch HDTV? How about various seasons of television on DVD/Blu-ray for rock bottom prices? What about one of those sweet Dyson vacuum cleaners with the roller ball? The answer to all of the above is most likely a resounding “no”, but need isn’t what Black Friday is all about. Not even close. Black Friday is all about getting something/anything on the cheap if for no other reason than because if you don’t, then the person behind you in line will. Oh, America. How I love thee.

In this week’s “Top 5″ installment you’ll find our set visit coverage for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, our review and interviews for a little movie you may have heard about called The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, the first trailer for director Tarsem Singh’s Snow White-tale Mirror Mirror, a new trailer for Gary Ross’ The Hunger Games adaptation, and Steve’s coverage from his visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

With the DVD/Blu-ray release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 a few days ago, Warner Bros. Home Video invited a number of reporters from around the world to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida to help promote its release.  While there, I got to speak with the cast as well as some of the filmmakers behind one of my favorite films of the year.  Over the past few days I posted my interviews with director David Yates, Warwick Davis, and James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley).  And up next I’ve got Rupert Grint.

During our brief conversation, Grint talked about being at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and what impressed him, what props he took home from set, what’s on his iPod right now, if he remembers any deleted scenes that have yet to be included on the DVD/Blu-rays, and what other films projects he has coming up.  Hit the jump to watch.

Beloved British stop-motion animated character Postman Pat is headed for the big screen. The character, a favorite of pre-school children, will be making his feature film debut with Postman Pat: The Movie – You Know You’re the One. The CG 3D animated film will feature Stephen Mangan (Episodes) as the voice of Pat, with Jim Broadbent, Rupert Grint, and David Tennant also lending their vocal talents to the project. The film will find Pat tempted by money and fame after he enters a national TV talent show competition. Production on the film begins this month, on the 30th anniversary of the character, with a release slated for Spring 2013. Hit the jump for the full press release, including a synopsis and the first image.