We have two interesting bits of casting news for you today. First up is the recent addition of Tom Savini (From Dusk âTill Dawn) to Quentin Tarantinoâs Django Unchained. The visionary directorâs latest picture features Jamie Foxx as the eponymous freed slave who sets out to rescue his wife from plantation boss, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Savini will play Ellis Brittle, one of three slave-owning outlaws responsible for the rape and branding of Djangoâs wife, Broomhilda.Additionally, Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three is reportedly being offered a small role in Peter Jacksonâs The Hobbit. Echols is currently in New Zealand with Jackson, who, along with his partner Fran Walsh, has been a major financial backer to the investigation. Hit the jump for more on both projects.News of Saviniâs casting comes from the Coventry Telegraph (via The Playlist). Fans of Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez will remember Savini as âSex Machine,â the biker with a machine-gun crotch in From Dusk âTill Dawn. Heâs also starred in Rodriguezâs Planet Terror and Machete. Probably best known for his masterful use of special effects, most notably in Romeroâs Living Dead film series, Savini still carries a cult following from his B-movie career. He will next star in Django Unchained alongside M. C. Gainey (Lost), who plays one of the other Brittle brothers. In The Hobbit casting news, where reality plays stranger than fiction, Showbiz 411 reports that one member of the West Memphis Three may be granted a small role in Peter Jacksonâs Lord of the Rings prequel. The West Memphis Three are three men who, while teenagers in 1994, were tried and convicted of ritualistic murders of three Boy Scouts in 1993. One of the men, Damien Echols, was sentenced to death. Recently, forensic evidence has strengthened the assertion of the men that they were innocent of the crime. In light of this evidence, they are currently serving a suspended sentence after being in prison for more than 18 years. The third installment of the Paradise Lost documentary was recently shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, which you can read about here.One would struggle to make the connection between this trial and the much-beloved Hobbit story if they didnât know of Peter Jacksonâs involvement. While the West Memphis Three had the backing of such advocates as Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman, most of their efforts went to publicizing the case. When Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh got involved, they decided to focus their efforts and finances into forensic evidence gathering. Their continued support has forged a strong bond with Echols and his wife Lorri, so it wouldnât come as a huge surprise to see that Jackson gives the man a small role. Echols will also release a memoir about his experiences through publisher Penguin in the fall of 2012.
Casting Call: Horror Icon Tom Savini Joins DJANGO UNCHAINED; Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three for Small Role in THE HOBBIT
Tom Savini Joins DJANGO UNCHAINED; Damien Echols May Appear in THE HOBBIT. The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson, is currently filming in New Zealand.