* How is it that anybody still cares about Fury Road? George Miller has been planning the fourth Mad Max film for more than two decades, with every conceivable roadblock standing in his way. The Iraq War....finances....ungodly torrential rains...it's been crazy. With the project now on track to start filming later this month in Namibia, the first bit of casting in ages has emerged. Already set to star Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw has been added to the cast, taking the role that was once occupied by Teresa Palmer(I Am Number Four). Plot details remain slim, but the plan all along was to take Mad Max in a different direction, with Fury Road as the start of a new trilogy. After the long wait, I'm taking a "wait and see" approach to it. [Herald Sun]
* Paul Feig(Bridesmaids) has entered talks to direct the family comedy, Wish List, which we first learned about last August. Starring Reese Witherspoon, the film has her as a woman who as a child made a wish at a fountain, never realizing that her coin never hit the bottom. Now 25 years later the coin finally has been knocked loose, and all the childish dreams she made suddenly start coming true. Feig was recently set to direct The Better Woman, which once had Witherspoon attached in the lead. He's also got comedies with Melissa McCarthy and Jon Hamm still in the works. [THR]
* One of the more intriguing projects we've heard about in the last few months is The Rut, which stars Chloe Moretz as a young girl who ventures into the dangerous woods to hunt as a way of seeking the approval of her father(Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Described as a cross between Winter's Bone and Whale Rider(two personal favorites), the film features a script by Kevin Caruso and direction by Karyn Kusama(Jennifer's Body). Ray Liotta has now entered talks to join the film, playing a rival hunter to Morgan's character and a threat to Moretz. [THR]
