Rupert Grint, who plays the red-headed sidekick Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, has shrugged off his Hogwarts uniform to indulge in some adolescent misbehaviour. Or, at least, his character in the new film, Cherrybomb, has. The movie, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on Sunday, is about three teenagers who embark on a wild weekend. But what starts out as fun and games turns deadly serious when things go wrong. Directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, Cherrybomb also stars Kimberley Nixon, Robert Sheehan and James Nesbit. Grint will start shooting this month on the final book of the seven in the Potter series, which is being split into two films.
Gossip Girl's Taylor Momsen and the Greek co-star Jacob Zachar are in talks to join Thora Birch in the cast of the upcoming comedy Cavegirl. Backed by the UK Film Council, the $6 million (Dh22m) Cavegirl is based on the BBC television series of the same name. Danny Peacock, who created the British series, will direct the big screen adaptation about teenage problems in a stone-age world. Production on the film is expected to begin in April in South Africa.
Walt Disney Studios has reached a long-term distribution agreement with Steven Spielberg's production company DreamWorks SKG. Under the new deal, Disney will handle the distribution and marketing for at least six live-action films a year for DreamWorks. The first of the movies, which will be released under the Touchstone Pictures banner, will hit cinemas in 2010. Disney will also receive a distribution fee of at least eight per cent of the DreamWorks films box-office grosses. The companies did not disclose any financial details.
DreamWorks films have included hits like Saving Private Ryan, Tropic Thunder and Transformers. The studio split from Paramount Pictures last year and signed a new production deal with the Indian film company Reliance Entertainment. Although they share the same name, DreamWorks SKG is a private company and run separately from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, a publicly traded company behind such films as Shrek and Madagascar. The initials SKG stand for the founding partners of both companies: Spielberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks Animation; Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the former music executive David Geffen. The Disney deal replaces an agreement DreamWorks announced last year with Universal which fell apart in recent weeks.
Aaron Eckhart and the Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins are to star alongside Johnny Depp in the adaptation of the Hunter S Thompson novel Rum Diary.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eckhart is in negotiations, while Jenkins has already signed on to appear in the film. Amber Heard, who starred in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane has been cast alongside Eckhart and Depp. Rum Diary tells the story of a washed-up journalist named Paul Kemp (Depp) in 1950s Puerto Rico. Eckhart, who recently appeared as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight, will play Sanderson, a wealthy island landowner who competes with Kemp for the affections of Heard's character. Jenkins, whose 2008 credits include Burn After Reading and The Visitor, is to play Lotterman, the miserable editor-in-chief of the newspaper where Kemp works. The project, directed by Bruce Robinson and produced by Depp, will begin shooting in Puerto Rico in March.
Ralph Fiennes is to make his directorial debut with a feature adaptation of William Shakespeare's historic tragedy Coriolanus. According to Variety, Fiennes will also star in the title role of the motion picture, which will likely be filmed in Eastern Europe.
Fiennes will play the Roman general Caius Martius, who upon returning from battle is urged by his ambitious mother Volumnia to run for the senate, which ultimately leads to his demise. The Tony Award winner Vanessa Redgrave is in negotiations to play Volumnia.Fiennes currently stars in Stephen Daldry's film The Reader alongside the Oscar-nominated Kate Winslet.
