The cast is finally coming together for director David Cronenberg’s next film.  Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis star Robert Pattinson has long been attached to appear in Maps to the Stars, and now THR reports that Julianne Moore, John Cusack, and Sarah Gadon (A Dangerous Method) are set to round out the cast.  Written by Bruce Wagner (Wild Palms), the film is described as a ghost story that “offers a critique of celebrity-obsessed society in Los Angeles,” the latter of which is quite a popular topic in film culture at the moment with Sofia Coppola’s similarly-themed film The Bling Ring set to hit theaters this summer.

There’s no word on the characters that the aforementioned actors will play, but production is set to begin in July in Toronto and Los Angeles with Entertainment One Films onboard to finance and distribute the indie.  Cronenberg previously stated that he was hoping to nab Viggo Mortensen to star in Maps to the Stars as well, but one assumes Cusack ended up taking that role instead.

Director Peter Lepeniotis has landed a solid voice cast for his upcoming animated feature, The Nut Job. Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy), Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Brendan Fraser (The Mummy) are among the actors that will lend their voices to characters in the film. The Nut Job will be based on Lepeniotis’ 2005 short film, Surly Squirrel. Disney veteran Lorne Cameron (Over the Hedge) scripted the film, “an action-packed comedy set in the late 1950s in fictional Oakton [that] follows the travails of the mischievous squirrel Surly and his rat pal Buddy as they plan a nut store heist that gets out of hand.” Hit the jump to see who else is joining the picture’s voice cast and to check out Surly Squirrel. 

When I’m in the checkout line at the supermarket, and I see all of the celebrity magazines, I’m confused.  People who would buy those magazines and tabloids don’t seem to realize that celebrities are strangers.  If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a baby, then I don’t see how that impacts anyone’s lives but their own.  But celebrities are viewed as a commodity, and Brandon Cronenberg‘s clever film Antiviral carries out this extension of human commodity into a perverse economy where there’s just enough shreds of truth to make us wonder if his world could really happen if the science was possible.  However, despite the fascinating ideas at the forefront, the story and characters almost feel perfunctory, and any attempts to make the movie feel like a thriller come off as heavy-handed.  Cronenberg has crafted a film that is sick, sad, smart, and serviceable.

A frequent theme in the oeuvre of writer-director David Cronenberg is how we become alienated through the ubiquitous.  We fail to notice how everyday facets of our lives are changing us on a fundamental level, and causing us to be alienated from ourselves and each other physically, mentally, and emotionally.  In Videodrome, Crash, and eXistenZ, Cronenberg explored how technology warped our relationship to the world to the point where technology became organic and the organic became mechanical.  In his last movie, A Dangerous Method, Cronenberg explored how psychotherapy causes people to become distanced from their emotions and psyches.  In his latest film, Cosmopolis, Cronenberg turns his eye to capitalism, and has created a darkly comic, coldly calculating look at a world where everything is for sale and nothing has value.  Like A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis suffers from the lack of an emotional impact, which is the inevitable result of a story where characters have become disconnected from emotion, but the story will still leave your head spinning.

A new trailer for David Cronenberg‘s Cosmopolis has gone online.  The plot centers on wealthy businessman (Robert Pattinson) who loses his fortune in a single day, and this trailer does a good job of conveying that basic plotline.  But as we’ve seen from previous trailers, the flick looks far stranger and unwieldy than such a simple premise.  This new trailer feels like it’s trying to smooth out the edges of an insane-looking flick.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, K’Naan, and Emily Hampshire.  Cosmopolis opens in limited release August 17th.

Tonight brings casting notices for a pair of actors I always enjoy:

• Adam Brody will star in the indie drama All the Wrong Reasons alongside Kevin Zegers, Sarah Gadon, and Emily Hampshire.
• Anna Kendrick has signed on to lead the indie comedy Drinking Buddies, the latest from writer/director Joe Swanberg (Hanna Takes the Stairs).

Hit the jump for details on both projects.

The first trailers for David Cronenberg‘s adaptation of Don DeLillo‘s novel Cosmopolis have been delightfully intense.  The movie looks like a return to the strange and surreal for Cronenberg, and a huge departure for star Robert Pattinson.  For those unfamiliar with the film, Pattinson plays a successful banker whose entire life unravels over the course of a single day.  In advance of the film’s debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the first clip has gone online.  It’s as bizarre as the trailers have led us to believe, and the dialogue definitely seems to have the odd, detached style of DeLillo’s writing.  I’m now even more anxious to see how Cannes reacts to the picture.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Sarah Gadon, Kevin Durand, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, and Mathieu Amalric.  The 2012 Cannes Film Festival runs from May 16 – 25th. [Update: We have added a new trailer and two more clips.]

Last month, we showed you a brief trailer for David Cronenberg‘s adaptation of Don DeLillo‘s Cosmopolis, which featured a potentially surprising and exciting turn from star Robert Pattinson.  In the film, Pattinson plays a newlywed billionaire who ends up losing his bride and his billions in a single day.  Two full trailers have now gone online, and Cronenberg is the star of both.  Pattinson still looks good, but these trailers show off a David Cronenberg surrealism we haven’t seen in some time.   And judging by these trailers, it’s very good to have it back.

Hit the jump to check out the trailers.  The film also stars Sarah Gadon, Kevin Durand, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, and Mathieu Amalric.  Cosmopolis will premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival.

Director Mary Harron has been working mainly in television since her 2000 cult classic, American Psycho, but is back this year with a new adaptation. The Moth Diaries, seemingly a foray into vampire lore, was adapted from a novel by Rachel Klein. The story follows two sixteen-year-old best friends at an all-girls boarding school whose relationship is shaken up by the arrival of a new and mysterious student. Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) must determine whether the newcomer, Ernessa (Lily Cole) is just trying to separate her from her Lucie (Sarah Gadon) or if her reasons are much more sinister. The Moth Diaries, also starring Scott Speedman (Underworld), will be available on iTunes, VOD and other digital hubs starting March 20^th, with a theatrical release on April 20^th. Hit the jump to see a new trailer and poster.

New images from David Cronenberg‘s adaptation of Don DeLillo‘s Cosmopolis have found their way online.  The film stars Robert Pattinson as a newlywed billionaire who ends up losing his bride and his billions in a single day.  I’m willing to give Pattinson a pass on the Twilight films since I think the material is untenable, and I want to see if he rises to the challenge of a demanding lead role in a David Cronenberg movie.  (However, I feel it’s important to mention that I never saw Remember Me or Water for Elephants.)

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film impressive cast also stars Sarah Gadon, Kevin Durand, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, and Mathieu Amalric.  Cosmopolis will likely hit theaters in 2012.

A few set images from David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis have hit the web. The images gives us a look at Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon (as well as Kevin Durand’s head). Based on the Don DeLillo novel, the film tells the story of a newlywed billionaire (Pattinson) who ends up losing his bride and his billions in a single day. Cosmopolis stars Pattinson, Gadon, Durand, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti and Mathieu Amalric. Hit the jump to check out the images.

The first image from David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis plus a first look at the puppet model for Gris Grimly’s Pinocchio has gone online.  Cosmopolis is based on the Don DeLillo novel about a newlywed billionaire (Robert Pattinson) who ends up losing his bride and his billions in a single day.  In addition to Pattinson, the film features an exciting cast including Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Mathieu Amalric, Kevin Durand, and Sarah Gadon.  The first image from the film was snapped by Cronenberg’s daughter Caitlin, who is a talented photographer in her own right.

The Pinocchio puppet comes from Gris Grimly and Mark Gustafson’s adaptation of Grimly’s gritty but faithful graphic novel adaptation of Carlo Colodi’s famous story.  We previously reported that Guillermo del Toro will be producing with the Jim Henson Company to turn the book into a 3D stop-motion animated feature.  The production is also working from a script by composer/screenwriter Nick Cave (The Proposition).  This puppet isn’t being used in the film, but it’s a model to show potential distributors.  Hit the jump to check out both images.

We’ve got a few casting stories for you this evening. First up, Thomas McDonell (Disney’s upcoming Prom) is the latest actor to sign on for Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows. The adaptation of the 1960’s gothic soap opera stars Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Michelle Pfieffer, Jackie Earle Haley and Bella Heathcoate. Heat Vision reports that McDonell will play the younger version of Depp’s character, Barnabas Collins, a “self-loathing vampire living in a Maine manor who is searching for his lost love.”

Additionally, Samantha Morton (In America) and Sarah Gadon (Charlie Bartlett) have joined the cast of David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis. THR reports that Morton will play the estranged wife of the lead character in the thriller, played by Robert Pattinson. Hit the jump for info on Malcolm McDowell and Dean Cain starring in the indie sci-fi thriller Mind’s Eye.