A myriad of casting news have been popping up in the last few days. Here are a few that caught my attention:

• Dame Helen Mirren has joined a comic book-based thriller Red, alongside Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. According to Empire, Willis will play a legendary assassin — he’s freakin’ John McClane, of course he’s legendary — who must come out of retirement when Freeman’s CIA director decides that he knows too much, and decides to rub him out. Mirren will apparently play one of Willis’ old colleagues, to whom he turns for assistance. Filming will begin in January in Toronto and Louisiana, and set to be released November 19, 2010.
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• The Tourist is certainly hitting one bumpy ride after another. First it was supposed to be a project by Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) starring Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron, then Cruise walked off and was replaced by Sam Worthington. Soon Naluri left, followed by Theron who’s then replaced by Angelina Jolie. You’d think that Worthington would jump for joy at the chance to work with Jolie, but he’s now off the project as well. Rope of Silicon reported that Worthington might be replaced by none other than Johnny Depp — much to the dismay of my friend Corinne who immediately theorized that he’d soon hit marital trouble with Jolie as his co-star. Not that far-fetched an idea given her track record but regardless, I think having the two on-screen would be quite electrifying. If he’s indeed on board, Depp would play an American tourist drawn into a web of intrigue and danger by a female Interpol agent (Jolie) as she attempts to locate a criminal who was once her lover. Several directors are still circling the project, including Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men). Well, with a topsy-turvy pre-production like this, the movie better be good.
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• Sir Anthony Hopkins has agreed to star as Ernest Hemingway. According to EMPIRE, actor/director Andy Garcia has been working with Hemingway’s granddaughter Hilary to get the project off the ground. The project titled Hemingway and Fuentes is a drama that chronicles the two decades in Cuba that led to Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1952 novel The Old Man and The Sea. Garcia himself will play the role of Gregoria Fuentes, Hemingway’s closest friend. Rounding out the cast is Annette Benning, who’s committed to star as Hemingway’s third wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway.
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  British director Danny Boyle apparently likes projects with numbers in them. He’s done the horror flick 28 Days Later, and now he’s set to direct a mountaineering-gone-wrong tale called 127 Hours. Even the writer at EMPIRE noted the squirm-inducing, shudder-prompting factor of the movie that’s clearly not for the faint of heart. This could be a movie I’m likely too chicken to watch. Get this: American adventurer Aron Ralston was climbing in Utah in 2003 when a boulder dislodged itself and pinned his lower right arm. He was stuck there for five days, and had to amputate his own arm in order to survive. He’s got a blog of his own if you’d like to read more about his amazing story. No news on the casting front, but one commenter suggested Michael Fassbender (300, Hunger, Inglorious Basterds) whom I think is not be a bad choice at all. Ryan Gossling could fit the bill as well IMO.