We have some casting news for you today. First up, Sean Bean has signed on to Ridley Scott's The Martian. Scripted by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) based on an e-book by Andy Weir, Matt Damon stars as an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and must figure out how to survive long enough for NASA to rescue him. According to THR, Bean will play a NASA flight director. It seems like a safe job, but I'm sure Bean's character will find some way to die. He'll probably choke on a donut or something. The film also stars Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara, Michael Pena and Kristen Wiig. The Martian opens November 25, 2015. Bean currently stars on the TNT series Legends and will next be seen in Jupiter Ascending and Pixels.
Hit the jump for casting news regarding Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), Ron Livingston (Office Space), Keith David (Cloud Atlas) and Beau Knapp (Super 8).
THR reports that Ron Livingston has been tapped to co-star in the young adult adaptation of The 5th Wave. Following four worldwide attacks by aliens, Cassie (Chloe Grace Moretz) is on a desperate hunt to save her younger brother, and as humanity prepares for the deadly fifth strike, she meets a young man who may become her last hope. Livingston will play Cassie's father. The movie also stars Liev Schreiber, Maika Monroe (The Guest), Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer) and Alex Roe.
The 5th Wave opens January 29, 2016. Livingston will next be seen in the David Foster Wallace biopic The End of the Tour, and the indies Shangri-La Suite, Fresno, Joe Swanberg's Digging for Fire, and Supreme Ruler, which is about a man who campaigns to become the leader of his Buffalo lodge.
Moving on, THR also reports that Keith David and Beau Knapp will play the antagonists in Shane Black's noir The Nice Guys starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. The story is set in 1970s L.A., and revolves around a private detective (Gosling) and a muscle-for-hire (Crowe) who are brought together to investigate the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated suicide of a fading porn star. Per THR, "Knapp will play a gold chain-wearing motormouth hitman who also is accident prone; David plays his older partner." Matt Bomer is also signed on to star. The Nice Guys opens June 17, 2016.
Knapp is a rising star with a collection of big projects on the way including Antoine Fuqua's boxing drama Southpaw, the thriller Run All Night starring Liam Neeson, the Coast Guard rescue drama The Finest Hours with Chris Pine and Eric Bana, as well as the indies The Guilty Innocent and What Lola Wants. As for David, the legendary character actor recently appeared on the acclaimed but sadly canceled Fox series Enlisted.
Finally, rising star Natalie Dormer has booked the lead role in Jason Zada's supernatural thriller, The Forest. Per the press release, the story is "set in the legendary Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji. Against this incredible backdrop, a young American woman goes in search of her twin sister, who has mysteriously disappeared. Despite everyone’s warnings to 'stay on the path,' Sara enters the forest determined to discover the truth about her sister’s fate, only to be confronted by the angry and tormented souls of the dead who prey on anyone who wanders the forest." The Forest is set for release on January 8, 2016. Dormer will next be seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. She's also set to lead the action thriller Patient Zero.