Here are today’s casting updates:

• Kevin Macdonald’s (The Last King of Scotland) new feature Black Sea, a hot ticket item coming up for Cannes, has Jude Law set to star.  Focus Features has snapped up worldwide rights to the film.

• Nicki Minaj will jump from her American Idol hosting duties to the big screen, making her live-action debut opposite Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, and Nickolaj Coster-Waldau in the Nick Cassavetes-directed The Other Woman.

• Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum), Scott Speedman (Last Resort), and Stephen Rea (V for Vendetta) will star in the supernatural thriller Out of the Dark, from Spanish director Lluis Quilez.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

With Universal’s Werewolf: The Beast Among Us arriving on Blu-ray/DVD October 9, we’ve been provided with the first images and trailer to premiere for our readers.  Directed by Louis Morneau (Joy Ride II, Hitcher II: I’ve Been Waiting) and starring Stephen Rea, Steven Bauer, Ed Quinn, Nia Peeples, Guy Wilson, Adam Croasdell and Rachel DiPillo, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us was filmed on location in Romania and Transylvania last year.  With Universal celebrating its 100th Anniversary, Werewolf is the start of a new chapter of horror in their home video department.   Hit the jump for the images, trailer, synopsis and Blu-ray cover art.

The Underworld series has always been more style than substance. Or, more accurately, all style and no substance. That’s not necessarily a fault; plenty of films have succeeded primarily on flair. Alex Proyas’ The Crow, for example. The original Underworld, helmed by Len Wiseman and starring wife Kate Beckinsale, never approached (or aimed for) the haunting visual poetry of that film. But in the beginning, it got by on an inherently cool premise (werewolves and vampires at war) and competently staged action. Four films in, the novelty’s worn off.

Underworld: Awakening sees Beckinsale slipping back into her famed leather catsuit after sitting out the last prequel entry; and while she fits the role of undead “Death Dealer” Selene well as ever, the franchise to which she returns is a bloated corpse. Hit the jump for our review of Underworld: Awakening on Blu-ray.

Screen Gems has sent over 5 movie clips and 12 images for Underworld: Awakening, the fourth entry in the Vampires vs. Lycans franchise.  Kate Beckinsale returns as Selene, “who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.”  Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley, and Charles Dance also star; Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein directed the January 20, 2012 release.  While I’m under embargo from writing what I thought, I suggest watching my interview with Beckinsale from earlier today, as I may have said something on camera.

Click here for all our coverage on Underworld 4, including my set visit last year.  Hit the jump for the images and clips.

Universal has announced that principal photography has begun in Bucharest, Romania on their Untitled Werewolf Thriller that’s being directed by Louis Morneau (Joy Ride II, Hitcher II: I’ve Been Waiting).  film stars Stephen Rea, Steven Bauer, Ed Quinn, Nia Peeples, Guy Wilson, Adam Croasdell and Rachel DiPillo and it’ll hit Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand in time for Halloween 2012.

If you remember a few weeks ago when I posted those very cool True Blood viral images from Bucharest, the reason I was able to get those pictures is that I was doing a set visit on this movie but was under embargo. However, now that Universal has announced the film, I can tell you that at some point next year, you can expect exclusive video interviews from the set and a lot more.  Hit the jump for the full press release and synopsis.

When we first reported on Blackthorn in March 2010, it sounded like a cheap attempt to cash in on the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  The plot had Butch Cassidy surviving the shootout in Bolivia and going under the new name “Blackthorn”.  At the time, it sounded like it was an old criminal going in for one last heist, but the trailer and official synopsis have gone online and they make the movie seem more complex and interesting than the original logline.  Sam Shepard also makes for a good Western protagonist even though the older Butch Cassidy has become far more grizzled and a lot less lighthearted.  Also, since we get so few Westerns, I’m willing to give almost all of them a shot.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Blackthorn hits VOD on September 2nd and opens in theaters on October 7th.

Director Neil Jordan’s new movie “Ondine” premiere’s at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. The film is being billed as a “lyrical, modern fairy tale that tells the story of Syracuse (Colin Farrell), an Irish fisherman whose life is transformed when he catches a beautiful and mysterious woman (Alicja Bachleda) in his nets. His daughter Annie (Alison Barry) comes to believe that the woman is a magical creature, while Syracuse falls helplessly in love. However, like all fairy tales, enchantment and darkness go hand in hand.”

While I’m not sure what to make of the film based on the synopsis, I’ll admit to being very curious. And with the film premiering in a few weeks, we’ll all know if this is a winner soon enough. Until then, take a look at the new images after the jump: