* Rapper Common (Just Wright) is in talks to play civil rights activist James Bevel in Selma, Ava Duvernay's film about Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, AL to secure voting rights for African-Americans. Also coming aboard is Andre Holland (42), who will take on the role of Andrew Young. David Oyelowo has been attached to the role of MLK since back when Lee Daniels was eying the film. [Deadline]
* Where Julia Stiles goes, my attention will follow. That might read kind of creepy but I'll watch her in anything, even an adaptation of The Great Gilly Hopkins. Stiles will join Sophie Nelisse (The Book Thief) in the film based on Katherine Peterson's book about brilliant, angry, brash 11-year-old Gilly Hopkins, who battles with her foster mom and hopes to be reunited with her mysterious mother. Co-starring are Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Glenn Close, and Billy Magnussen. [Deadline]
* Toby Kebbell will join Nicholas Hoult in the Iraq War drama, Sand Castle, which is based on a script by war veteran Chris Roessner. Directed by first-timer Seb Edwards, the story is taken from the real experiences of a platoon repairing an aqueduct in the dangerous and remote region of Baqubah, Iraq. Kebbell will play platoon leader Sgt. Baker who is dealing with mounting casualties, while Hoult is a machine gunner. Kebbell has been keeping busy of late, taking on the role of Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four, plus he'll star in this summer's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. [Screen Daily]
