It's only taken six years, but Joe Cornish is finally embarking on a follow-up. A few months ago we learned he'd direct fantasy adventure film The Kid Who Would Be King, and now he's adding some impressive stars to the cast. The Tracking Board reports Rebecca Ferguson (The Girl On the Train) and Patrick Stewart (Green Room) are in talks to join the cast. Already aboard the film are Andy Serkis' son, Louis, who will take the lead role of Alex, a young boy who finds the sword Excalibur. Along with his friends he sets off on a medieval quest to thwart the evil Morgana, who would be played by Ferguson. Stewart would play the older version of Merlin, with Angus Imrie (Kingdom) as the younger version. Tom Taylor (The Dark Tower), Rhianna Doris (Secret Life of Boys), and newcomer Dean Chaumoo co-star.
Teyonah Parris, who was great in Chi-Raq and in Dear White People, is eyeing a role in If Beale Street Could Talk, the new film from Moonlight's Barry Jenkins. She'd be joining the previously-cast Stephan James (Race) and Kiki Layne in the story of Tish, a pregnant woman trying to get her wrongly-convicted fiance out of jail before the birth. Parris would play Tish's sister, Ernestine, who is determined to help her future brother-in-law prove his innocence. The story is being adapted from the James Baldwin novel. [The Tracking Board]
Being on the cover of Shape magazine has paid off for Julianne Hough. She'll play fitness pioneer and co-founder of Shape magazine, Betty Wieder, in George Gallo's biopic, Bigger. The film follows the Wieder brothers who created the Mr. Olympia competition and changed the face of fitness forever by making it all about big, jacked dudes. Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie career was launched after he won Mr. Olympia multiple times until he retired from it in 1975. Anyway, Hough joins Tyler Hoechlin (Everybody Wants Some!!), Kevin Durand (The Strain), and Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk) in the film. [Deadline]
