At one point a few years ago, Paul Greengrass was looking to make a biopic on legendary rocker Jimi Hendrix with Anthony Mackie in the lead. But when the Hendrix estate wouldn’t sign off on the project, it fell apart and everyone moved on. But now, things are moving again. Mackie is back to play the axeman, with Ol Parker (“Now Is Good“) at the helm of the movie “which chronicles the last nine days of Hendrix’s life.” Thandie Newton is on board to play Hendrix’s wife, with Noomi Rapace eyed to play his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham. The project is currently being shopped at Cannes, no production start has been tabled, and we’ll see what the Hendrix family has to say about this. Let’s just hope the filmmakers get clearance to use his actual music. [The Wrap]
Aubrey Plaza is using her break from “Parks and Recreation” to join “The Driftless Area” with Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes and Frank Langella. The story follows “the young love between a bartender and a mysterious woman. Their relationship is threatened after the bartender, Pierre, gets mixed up with a dangerous crook and his bag of stolen cash.” Zachary Sluser co-wrote the script and will direct with production now underway. [THR]
Matteo Garrone (“Gomorrah,” “Reality“) has added Toby Jones, John C. Reilly and Alba Rohrwacher to his currently filming “Tale Of Tales.” The epic shoot will last four months, with the project “loosely based on ‘Tale of Tales’ by Giambattista Basile” and centering on the “giant fresco of the baroque period, told through stories of three sovereigns ruling under different dynasties.” Alexandre Desplat is writing the score, and we’d wager you’ll see this at Cannes next year. [Cineuropa]
Stellan Skarsgård is going viking for “The Long Ships.” Hans Petter Moland will direct the movie, based on the best-selling novel by Frans Bengtsson, and it will have a script by Tobias Lindholm (“A Hijacking,” “The Hunt“). Filming will begin next year. [THR]
David Wilmot, Kerry Condon, James Nesbitt and Maisie Williams will star in “Gold,” an offbeat comedy about “a father seeking to reconnect with his estranged daughter and wife. Instead, he sows chaos.” Niall Heery will direct. [Variety]
Kevin Bacon will star in a movie called “Cop Car,” which has a premise as plain as its title. It follows “a pair of ten-year-olds who go for a joyride in an abandoned car only to find the owner has left something of great value behind. The car belongs, in fact, to a small-time cop, played by Bacon, who is desperate to get it back. A fast-paced game of cat-and-mouse ensues.” [Screen Daily]
Emilia Clarke and Nicholas Hoult are the latest youngsters to play Bonnie and Clyde, this time in the feature “Go Down Together.” The movie is “a revisionist take on the legend of Clyde Barrow and femme fatale Bonnie Parker, young lovers who left at least seven bodies in their wake as they robbed banks throughout the Depression-era South.” Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”) and David Auburn (“Proof”) wrote the script, which is based on Jeff Guinn‘s titular book. Michael Sucsy (“The Vow,” “Grey Gardens“) will direct. [The Wrap]
Robert De Niro continues with his Nicolas Cage-esque film choices, this time deciding to star in “Bus 757.” The movie follows “a casino card dealer who puts together a crew to simultaneously rob a bank and hijack a bus full of hostages to use as collateral. De Niro will play “The Pope,” a casino owner with illegitimate business practices whose assets are the targets of the heist.” Filming starts in September with Scott Mann directing. [Deadline]
Adrien Brody will take the lead in Lee Tamahori‘s “Emperor.” He’ll be playing “brilliant strategist Emperor Charles V, trying to hold together a fragmented Empire, in a 16th century world of wealth, debauchery, violent retaliations, sex, manipulation and treason.” Filming starts in August.