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.

Black Sea will definitely have buyers interested during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, especially with Law attached.  Via Deadline, the film tells the story of a submarine captain who enters into a shady deal to try and find a sunken sub filled with gold in the Black Sea.  The premise certainly sounds interesting and could provide a great backdrop for an intense Law performance.  I was looking forward to seeing him in Jane Got a Gun opposite Natalie Portman, but that ship sailed right along with former director Lynne Ramsey.  Hopefully he can stick around for this project.

While Minaj has an animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift, under her belt, this would be the first time the hip-hop/pop star would be doing live-action.  The Other Woman will see Diaz as the titular other woman, working with the wife of the man she was seeing, played by Mann, to seek revenge on him.  THR reports that Minaj would be playing Diaz’s assistant at her law firm, an opinionated woman already on her third marriage.  While this role does sound like a typical sassy side character type, Minaj might be able to have some fun with it.  She’s certainly had plenty to say during her time judging Idol, and she may prove to be someone great at ad-libbing and improv.

Out of the Dark sounds like it’s going to come from the same ilk as many recent horror movies.  The film will see Stiles and Speedman as an American couple moving to Colombia with their daughter to take over the wife’s father’s company.  They then find out that the house they moved into may be haunted.  I think Stiles and Speedman are perfectly capable actors, and Quilez could definitely bring a nice flare and style to the story, but it sounds too generic and vague right now to inspire much hope.

Below is the full press release for the film.

JULIA STILES, SCOTT SPEEDMAN AND STEPHEN REA STAR IN SUPERNATURAL THRILLER OUT OF THE DARK 

The Participant Presentation, in Association with Image Nation, is produced by Dynamo and Apaches, and is Filming in Colombia

Los Angeles, CA – April 25, 2013 – Julia Stiles (Silver Linings Playbook, The Bourne Ultimatum), Scott Speedman (The Strangers, The Vow) and Stephen Rea (V for Vendetta, The Crying Game) star in Out of the Dark, a supernatural thriller presented by Participant Media in association with Image Nation and produced by Colombia’s Dynamo and Spain’s Apaches Entertainment.  Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King and Nick Spicer of XYZ Films serve as executive producers on the film, which began filming in Bogota, Colombia this week.

Spanish filmmaker Lluis Quilez is directing the screenplay by Alex & David Pastor and Javier Gullón about an American couple, Sarah and Paul Harriman, who move to Colombia with their young daughter, Hannah, to take over the manufacturing business owned by Sarah’s father, and soon realize that the house they’ve moved into is haunted.

Said King, “Given Participant’s mission to illuminate important issues, this is not your average ghost story.  You can be sure that there’s a bigger reason why this takes place at this particular house in the Colombian jungle and to this particular family.”

“We are delighted to once again join Participant Media in bringing this smart story to the screen,” observed Mohamed Al Mubarak, Image Nation’s Chairman.

Dynamo’s Cristian Conti, added, “We are excited to be working with Participant to deliver this kind of quality storytelling to Colombia and to take advantage of the spectacular locations and local talent in a way that is authentically international.”

Apaches Partner Belen Atienza said, “Out of the Dark showcases the talent of Lluis Quilez to give life to frightening stories that go beyond the genre to explore deeper emotions.”