3/13/2014

Maggie Grace Returns for 'Taken 3'; Olivia Cooke Eyes 'Me & Earl & the Dying Girl'



* Well, Liam Neeson has said nobody will be taken in Taken 3, which means Maggie Grace will have to find something new to do. She has been confirmed to return for the action film as the daughter of specially-skilled agent Bryan Mills. The awesomely named Olivier Megaton is directing, and Forest Whitaker has been rumored for a supporting role. She's also snagged the female lead in an upcoming CBS comedy exec-produced by John Cusack. Meh. [Deadline]

* Olivia Cooke, who is terrific on Bates Motel, is in talks for the lead role in Me & Earl & the Dying Girl, which surprisingly enough is described as a coming-of-age story in the vein of a John Hughes movie. Jesse Andrews wrote the original novel and adapted the Black List-approved screenplay which "follows a quirky high school student in Pittsburgh who is forced by his mother to befriend a sick girl he once knew when they attended Hebrew school together. Well-liked by every clique in school without actually belonging to any of them, the young man's commitment to the new friendship changes his life." Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is directing. [TheWrap]