Susanne Bier doesn’t stop. Already in post-production on “A Second Chance” starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (first look here), and with “Serena” forever dangling over her head as that completed but still somewhat shelved Bradley Cooper/Jennifer Lawrence joint, the director is already plowing ahead on new a movie, one that is aiming to shoot this fall, with a pretty big star attached.
Screen Daily reports that two-time Oscar winner Cate Blachett is in talks to star in “The Dig.” Penned by Moira Buffini (“Tamara Drewe,” “Byzantium“) and based on the novel by John Preston, the story follows amateur archaeologist Edith Pretty, who with the onset of World War II, leads a team in excavating the English site of Sutton Hoo, a cemetery site from the 6th and 7th century, with untold artifacts inside, including a full-blown ship used in a burial. The film is said to be in the vein of “The Remains Of The Day,” with a gallery of interesting characters, and hopefully that’ll be enough to woo investors at the Cannes marketplace where the project will be up for grabs next month.
Meanwhile, Showbiz 411 reveals that best buds Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will be reteaming on the big screen in “The Nest.” Fey was attached earlier this year to the project written by “Saturday Night Live” veteran Paula Pell, about two 30-something sisters who find out their parent’s house has been put up for sale. So they do what any ordinary adult would do, and they decide to have a final wild weekend. Jason Moore (“Pitch Perfect“) will direct with production starting this summer.
Lastly, The Wrap reports that John Magaro (“Not Fade Away“) has joined the currently-in-production “Carol,” from director Todd Haynes and starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, the ’50s-set story follows the story of two women—one a 20-something girl working in a department store while harbouring bigger dreams, the other a middle-aged wife trapped in a money-driven, loveless marriage—and the relationship that brews between the two. Magaro will play a writer from The New York Times that Rooney’s character relates to.