We’ve got a number of casting announcements to attend to this evening.  Briefly:

  • Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) will join Johnny Depp in the Alice in Wonderland sequel Through the Looking Glass.
  • Katie Holmes has signed on to star opposite Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren in the Holocaust drama The Woman in Gold.
  • Rodrigo Santoro (300) has joined Dominion, a film about the last day of poet Dylan Thomas’ life.
  • The currently-filming Divergent sequel Insurgent has added Jonny Weston (Chasing Mavericks) and Suki Waterhouse (Pusher).
  • The Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal has Emily Blunt in the cast of Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve's upcoming film Sicario.

Hit the jump for more on the aforementioned casting.

Firstly, The Wrap reports that Rhys Ifans will play Johnny Depp’s (aka the Mad Hatter’s) father Zanik Hightopp in Through the Looking Glass, which is set to be directed by James Bobin, who takes over for the previous film’s director Tim BurtonMark Rylance was previously in talks to play Depp’s father in the sequel, but apparently his deal didn't come together.  Curiously, Ifans is four years younger than Depp in real life.  Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter will reprise their roles from the first pic, while Sacha Baron Cohen will play the villain Time.  Disney will release the pic on May 27, 2016.

Additionally, Deadline reports that Katie Holmes has joined the cast of the promising drama The Woman in Gold.  Directed by Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn), the pic tells the true story of a Holocaust survivor’s (Helen Mirren) crusade to reunite with her long-lost family heirlooms, which reside with the Austrian government.  Daniel Bruhl and Tatiana Maslany also star.  No word on who Holmes will play, but she previously worked with Mirren on the teen dark comedy Teaching Mrs. Tingle.

Also per Deadline, 300: Rise of an Empire star Rodrigo Santoro has been tapped to join the small-scale drama Dominion, which tells the story of the last day of poet Dylan Thomas’ life.  Monster and Like Water for Chocolate cinematographer Steven Bernstein directs the pic from his own script, and Santoro will play the role of the bartender at the White Horse, a man who communicates with Thomas throughout the film.  The cast also includes Rhys Ifans, John Malkovich, Zosia Mamet, and Tony Hale.

jonny-weston

Though production just began on the Divergent sequel Insurgent in Atlanta, THR reports that two more actors have been added to the cast.  Model Suki Waterhouse will fill the relatively minor role of Marlene, a member of Dauntless, while actor Jonny Weston has signed on in an unspecified role (if he’s playing Uriah, an African-American character from the book, I’ll be very disappointed in the change).  Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet reprise their roles from the first film alongside newcomer Octavia Spencer, and Insurgent is due out on March 20, 2015.

Finally, THR reports that Jon Bernthal has joined the cast of Denis Villeneuve's next project Sicario.  The film stars Emily Blunt as a law enforcement agent who works with a government operative (Benicio Del Toro) and an elite group of agents to track down a drug cartel.  Filming is underway with Villeneuve reuniting with Prisoners cinematographer Roger Deakins.