From acclaimed Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and screenwriter J.H. Wyman (Fringe), the crime drama Dead Man Down tells the story of two strangers who are bound together by their mutual obsession with revenge.  Victor (Colin Farrell) is a mysterious man who has infiltrated the crime empire run by ruthless kingpin Alphonse (Terrence Howard) for his own very definite reasons, while his neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) wants Victor’s help to carry out her own plans for retribution.

At the film’s press day, actor Colin Farrell talked about relating to his character, the environment on set, how much he enjoyed working with Noomi Rapace, chatting about work on their shared hotel balcony the night before they would shoot, and how he got cleaner than he’s ever been to play this character.  He also talked about his roles in the upcoming films Saving Mr. Banks and Winter’s Tale, as well as voicing a character for his first animated feature, Epic.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

We’ve got 18 new images today from the set of Akiva Goldsman’s Winter’s Tale.  The adaptation of the Mark Helprin novel centers on a a thief (Colin Farrell) who breaks into the home of a bed-ridden young woman (Jessica Brown Findlay) and ends up falling in love with her.  Russell Crowe stars as Pearly Soames, a violent crime lord and leader of the Short Tail gang who is after the thieving protagonist. In charge of tracking him down is Romeo Tan (Kevin Corrigan), Soames’ ruthless right-hand man who acts as his boss’s enforcer in 1916 New York.  The picture also co-stars William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly, Matt Bomer, Eva Marie Saint and Will Smith, who will cameo as a judge.  Hit the jump to check out the images from Winter’s Tale. 

Recently seen battling the unded in Resident Evil: Retribution, Boris Kodjoe will next battle sex-addiction in the Lionsgate drama, Addicted.  Paul Hall will produce with Bille Woodruff (Honey) attached to direct.  The picture centers on a supposedly happily-married mother of three children who satisfies her sex addiction by sleeping around.  Sex addiction tales seem to be a trend on the rise (Shame, Thank You For Sharing), all paving the way to the inevitable Fifty Shades of Grey. Variety’s report shares no details as to Kodjoe’s role, so it’s unclear as to which side of the addiction he will be on.  Kodjoe can next be seen in another film that deals with infidelity in brutal ways in director Douglas Aarniokoski’s Nurse 3-D.

Hit the jump for news on the newest addition to Akiva Goldsman’s directorial debut, Winter’s Tale, starring Russell Crowe. 

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share this morning.  First up, Ewan McGregor will topline the Australian heist thriller Son of a Gun.  The story centers on the relationship between a veteran thief and his young protégé, with McGregor set to play the thieving expert.  Variety’s report is short on further details, but Julius Avery will make his feature directorial debut on the project from a script that he also wrote.  The thriller is set to begin filming in Perth, Kalgoorlie, and Western Australia early next year.

McGregor is currently in Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner) filming the star-studded adaptation of the stage play August: Osage County.  Produced by George Clooney and directed by John Wells (ER, The Company Men), the pic stars Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, and many, many more.  McGregor will next be seen in the disaster drama The Impossible, opening later this year.  Hit the jump for casting news concerning the fantasy Winter’s Tale.

Academy Award-winning scribe Akiva Goldsman’s directorial debut is filling out its cast.  The A Beautiful Mind screenwriter already has Colin Farrell set as the lead in his adaptation of Mark Helprin’s novel Winter’s Tale with Russell Crowe and Will Smith taking (relatively small) supporting roles, and now Deadline reports that Matt Bomer (White Collar), Lucy Griffiths (True Blood) and legendary actress Eva Marie Saint (North By Northwest) have joined the cast.  The fantasy tale tells the story of a thief, a dying girl, and a flying white horse in 19th century and contemporary Manhattan, with Farrell playing the thief.

Bomer and Griffiths will play Farrell’s parents, but Saint’s pivotal role is being kept under wraps.  The report also adds that Hans Zimmer will perform scoring duties on the pic.  Goldsman has rounded up an impressive supporting cast, including William Hurt and Jessica Brown Findlay, with production set to begin in New York on October 27th.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.

We have a few new casting additions to share with you today.  Here they are in brief:

• Vanessa Hudgens (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) is the latest addition to Machete Kills, the sequel  directed by Robert Rodriguez and starring Danny Trejo.
• William Hurt (The Incredible Hulk) will join Akiva Goldsman’s directorial debut, Winter’s Tale.  The adaptation of the Mark Helprin novel stars Colin Farrell and Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay.
• Margo Martindale (Million Dollar Baby) joins the family in August: Osage County, based on the Tracy Letts play and starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Chris Cooper.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

Colin Farrell has been offered the male lead in Akiva Goldsman’s directorial debut, Winter’s Tale.  The female lead is set with Jessica Brown Findlay playing a dying young woman who falls in love with a thief who breaks into her West Side Manhattan mansion.  Farrell, if he takes the role in the Warner Bros. picture, would play the thief in this supernatural drama that occurs both in the 19th century and in contemporary times.  Winter’s Tale, based on the 1983 novel by Mark Helprin, also stars Russell Crowe and Will Smith in supporting roles.  Shooting is set to begin in New York on October 15th.  Hit the jump to see who else could fill the role if Farrell opts out.

Several weeks ago, we reported that Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) was in the running for the lead female role in writer-director Akiva Goldman‘s adaptation of Mark Helprin‘s novel Winter’s Tale.  Today, Deadline reports that Findlay has nabbed the role of “the dying young woman who falls in love with a thief who breaks into her home, a palatial West Side mansion, in a drama that takes place in 19th Century and contemporary Manhattan.”  Deadline adds that Aaron Johnson and Garrett Hedlund are the frontrunners to play the thief.  As we previously reported, Russell Crowe and Will Smith, who worked with Goldsman on A Beautiful Mind and I Am Legend, respectively, will have small supporting roles in the film.  Goldsman is making his directorial debut on Winter’s Tale, and shooting is set to begin on October 15th in New York.

I haven’t seen Downton Abbey, but I’ve only heard raves about the show, so I’ll assume that Findlay is great on it.  Hit the jump for a synopsis for Helprin’s novel.

Akiva Goldsman has spent the last several years developing an adaptation of Mark Helprin‘s novel Winter’s Tale.  He signed a deal this time last year to make Winter’s Tale his directorial debut, but the progress was impeded when the budget for the supernatural period thriller became a concern at Warner Bros.  Goldsman turned to a pair of marketable A-listers he’s worked with for help: Russell Crowe (Goldsman wrote A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man) and Will Smith (I, Robot and I Am Legend) have agreed to appear in the film, so the project is back on track with $20 million subtracted from the projected budget.  Goldsman is now looking to cast the young leads: Heat Vision hears Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Tom Hiddleston (Thor), Lily Collins (Abduction), Bella Heathcote (In Time), and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downtown Abbey) will undergo testing over the next two weeks.

The early 20th-century tale centers on “a thief on the run who, when breaking into a wealthy man’s home, strikes up a relationship with the man’s terminally ill daughter.”  Hit the jump for the full book synopsis.

Exactly one year ago today, we reported that Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) was set to make his directorial debut with an adaptation of Mark Helprin’s novel Winter’s Tale. The fantasy tells the story of a thief, a dying girl, and a flying white horse in 19th century and contemporary Manhattan. The $75 million film was set up at Warner Bros., but we’ve heard practically nothing about the project since that announcement. Apparently the film has been languishing at the studio over financial issues (why wouldn’t WB want to pay $75 million for a drama starring a flying horse?), but now Goldsman’s project has gained a considerable amount of steam with two casting coups: Russell Crowe and Will Smith. Hit the jump for more, including a synopsis of the novel.

Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (Angels & Demons) has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of the Mark Helprin novel Winter’s Tale.  Goldsman has directed four episodes of Fringe (which he produces) and one episode of Kings, but this will be his feature directorial debut.  Goldsman was reportedly drawn to the fantasy of Winter’s Tale, which tells the story of “a thief, a dying girl and a flying white horse in 19th Century and contemporary Manhattan.”  According to Deadline, Warner Bros. is setting up the adaptation with a relatively large $75 million budget.  The studio has begun the casting search in preparation for a spring 2012 start.

Goldsman should have his hands full until then (and beyond) as the writer tasked with adapting Stephen King’s Dark Tower series for Universal.  Goldsman has written the first Dark Tower film and is on tap to script first season of television; he is on board as at least a producer for the other two films in the trilogy and subsequent TV seasons in the ambitious franchise.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Winter’s Tale.

Akiva Goldsman is a very busy man. He’s also someone that fandom has never been happy with. That’s because as the producer or screenwriter of films like “Batman Forever”, “Lost in Space”, “The Da Vinci Code”, “I Am Legend”, “Angels & Demons”, and “Hancock”, he’s easily pointed at for problems with the adaptations. But no matter what fandom thinks, the films he’s involved with make tons of money, so he’s not going anywhere.

Anyway, he’s currently developing movie versions of “Lobo” and “Swamp Thing”, and he might direct his first feature and it’s looking like it’ll be “Winter’s Tale”, which is Mark Helprin’s 1983 fantasy about an alternate-history New York, a thief and flying white horse. So if you’re curious about any of the projects, hit the jump to read what he had to say: