We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, Nicolas Cage has boarded yet another thriller as he’s set to star in TokarevTHR reports that Cage was instrumental in choosing the film’s director—spanish filmmaker Paco Cabezas—and will play a former criminal who sets out in search of his daughter’s kidnappers.  Jim Agnew and Sean Keller wrote the script, and production is looking to get underway this May in Spokane, Washington.  Cage will next be seen voicing a character in the DreamWorks Animation comedy The Croods.

Hit the jump for casting news concerning a certain Downton Abbey alum landing a co-starring role opposite Liam Neeson.

Additionally, Variety reports that Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens is in talks to star opposite Liam Neeson in the thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones.  Neeson plays an ex-NYPD officer now serving as a PI who is hired to locate the kidnapped wife of a drug dealer.  During his investigation, he finds out the perpetrators have done this before, resulting in several murders.  The pic was written by Scott Frank (Out of Sight), who will also direct.  It’s unknown who Stevens would play, but I’d love to see the Heir of Grantham as a hard drug dealer.  The actor is currently filming the WikiLeaks film The Fifth Estate which stars Benedict Cumberbatch.