* Liam Hemsworth has replaced Armie Hammer as the lead in Cut Bank, the indie crime thriller from Matt Shackman, marking his directorial debut. Baby Thor joins a remarkable ensemble that includes Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Michael Stuhlbarg, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Platt, and Bruce Dern. Robert Patino's Black List script will follow an ex-high school football star turned auto mechanic who desperately wants to escape his Cut Bank, Montana hometown that is frozen in time. His actions to get out will have a drastic effect on his life and on the town.
* Having recently wrapped a role in one of Terrence Malick's upcoming projects, Haley Bennett is looking for something a bit more grounded, and probably with many more guns. She's joining Denzel Washington, Chloe Moretz, David Meunier, and Melissa Leo in The Equalizer, Antoine Fuqua's big screen version of the hit TV series. Washington plays a former covert operative with a dark past who tries to atone by helping those in need of his services. [Deadline]
* Three mediocre talents are about to converge on what will likely be a mediocre, yet high-grossing comedy. Adam Sandler is set to produce and star in the supernatural laugher, Hello Ghost, playing “a man who, after he tries to kill himself, is plagued by the arrival of four ghosts. They won’t won’t leave him in peace until he helps them amend their past by granting them one wish.” Chris Columbus (I Love You, Beth Cooper) is in line to direct, based off a script by Karen Croner, who wrote the middling Tina Fey/Paul Rudd rom-com, Admission. This sounds awful, but Sandler's name still carries a lot of weight. He'll be seen next month in the unfortunate sequel Grown Ups 2. [THR]
