You can't stop Hollywood from trying to make stars, even if the audience isn't biting. After the complete failure of "Warrior" and "The Thing," Joel Edgerton remains in demand, evevn if he can still walk the streets completely unrecognized. He was in the mix for a potential supporting role in the now-defunct "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and recently was sought to play Themosticles in the currently-gestating "300: Battle Of Artemisium." However, Variety has heard something new on the Aussie grapevine: they're reporting that Edgerton has turned the role down, leaving the Noam Murro actioner without a leading man.
By rejecting two straight Warner Bros. tentpoles, Edgerton's either ballsy, crazy, or already busy. He's long been linked to Kathryn Bigelow's "Kill Bin Laden," but his involvement seems like a question mark right now he's been curiously absent from the recent mix of names annouced for roles. However, having some free time, he could very well jump aboard the film, as it's currently taking shape for a December 2012 release date. As for the "300" sequel, it's currently slated for an undetermined 2013 release, but we wonder if Frank Miller's recent ill-advised anti-OWS rant has taken some of the wind out of the project's sails.
Meanwhile, "The Help" director Tate Taylor has been looking for a follow-up, and it looked like he had found one with the R-rated roadtrip comedy "Tammy." Re-teaming with Melissa McCarthy, who co-starred in his first film "Pretty Ugly People," "Tammy" was to tell the story of a woman with a nowhere life who travels the country with her irritating, foul-mouthed grandmother. Your basic four-quadrant premise, natch. However, the script, penned by McCarthy and Ben Falcone, is now without a helmer, with Taylor departing the project. It's a curious break-up, since McCarthy and Taylor are both earning Oscar heat, albeit for different movies, but New Line's expected to move on finding a new director for the project soon. Taylor, meanwhile, may jump onto another period drama with "Peace Like A River."