The Hollywood Reporter announced yesterday that Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce and Mia Wasikowska (just in case you didn’t see that above) have all joined the cast of the novel adaptation The Wettest County in the World, the next film from director John Hillcoat (The Proposition, The Road). Read more after the break.

The four newcomers to the project join the previously cast Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy.

The Wettest County in the World is based on the novel of the same name by Matt Borundant, who in turn based his book on the true story of his relatives. I’ll reprint the synopsis of the book from our previous article on Hardy and LaBeouf’s casting; thanks to /Film:

In 1928, a pair of thieves accost Bondurant’s real life great-uncle Forrest at his Franklin County, Va., restaurant. They’re after a large cache of bootlegging money and end up cutting Forrest’s throat. The story of his survival and his trek to a hospital 12 miles away has taken on mythical proportions by the time Sherwood Anderson arrives in Franklin County in 1934 to research a magazine piece on the area’s prolific moonshiners. Soon after Anderson’s arrival, two anonymous men appear at the same hospital, one with legs meticulously shattered from ankle to hip, the other one castrated, with the by-products of the deed deposited in a jar of moonshine. The arc of the story lies between the attack on Forrest and that on the two men.

And word on who’s playing who:

Pearce will play an overly violent deputy who comes down hard on the Bondurants while Oldman will play a gangster who engages the boys to deliver alcohol.

Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland and The Kids Are All Right) plays LeBeouf’s love interest, a local Mennonite girl. Clarke (TV’s Chicago Code) is playing the brother to LaBeouf and Hardy.

This sounds like a great new film for Hillcoat; The Proposition is one of the best Westerns I’ve seen, and The Road was a calm, thoughtful take on the over-done post-apocalypse genre (although fell victim to some rather misleading trailers). A gangster film will add to a nice sense of variety. He’s getting together a hell of a cast here, with some great actors; but as usual, I’m mostly looking forward to seeing what the brilliant Gary Oldman will bring to his role.

The Wettest County in the World is being adapted for the screen by musician Nick Cave, who also co-wrote Hillcoat’s debut Ghosts… of the Civil Dead, and scripted The Proposition. He composed the scores for The Proposition and The Road too (the latter of which was beautiful).

This is yet another film to get excited for, I guess. Filming is scheduled to begin on February 28th.

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Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot is gearing up for production and meanwhile his star Andrew Garfield is on his way to becoming a household name. With solid performances in both Never Let Me Go and The Social Network, indifference toward the 27-year-old’s casting as Peter Parker is slowly turning toward interest.

Now, Deadline brings word of some actresses up for the role of Spidey’s love interest: Dianna Agron (“Glee”) and Georgina Haig (Wasted on the Young) join the already-listed Emma Stone (Easy A), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), and Dominique McElligott (Moon). There’s also a really interesting bit about a potential recasting of Venom. Find out the latest after the jump.

Before we move into Venom discussion, I should mention that the women listed above are not specified for any particular roles. That means any of them could be in contention for Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, or perhaps a completely original personality created for this film. My take? I’d love to see Emma Stone as MJ and Dianna Agron as Gwen Stacy. (Assuming they can’t bring the gorgeous Bryce Dallas Howard back to reprise her role.)

The role of Venom/Eddie Brock is a key rival to Peter Parker in the Spider-Man mythology. Brock and Parker are constantly in competition – not only in their love lives, but also professionally as freelance photographers at the Daily Bugle. Topher Grace portrayed the character in Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, and in a casting decision that will make your head spin, Deadline presents “early unconfirmed talk” that Sony is considering Philip Seymour Hoffman as a replacement. This is a wildly off-base decision that I can’t possibly get behind. Hoffman is a great actor, for sure – but Venom? No way. The dynamic between the characters will be completely thrown off because of the age difference (Garfield is 27, Hoffman is 43).

Now it’s your turn: give me your dream casting scenario in the comment section. No holds barred: it doesn’t have to be just the people mentioned above – let’s open the floor to all suggestions. Who would you like to see?

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Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Emma Stone (Superbad) have joined Imogen Poots, Ophelia Lovibond, Lily Collins, Teresa Palmer, Emma Roberts and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the race to become Andrew Garfield’s love interest in the Spider-Man reboot. Although according to EW there are two female leads that need casting, which could mean the actresses are testing for Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy.

The studio is casting a rather wide net. It flew Mia Wasikowska, best known as Alice from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, in from New York to meet with Webb and Garfield. While, most recently, Easy A’s Emma Stone read with Garfield for the role.

Not only do the actresses have to have the acting chops, they also have to have good chemistry with Andrew Garfield as they will be sharing the screen with him for potentially 3 movies.

Filming is scheduled to begin in December so the chosen actress or actresses will likely be announced soon. Who would you go for?

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Disney have set a June 1st release date for Alice in Wonderland on DVD and Blu-ray, which is only 3 months after it was released on the big screen. As I type it is still in the top 10 at the US box office, and has accumulated a gross of over $785 million worldwide.

You may remember that UK cinemas were threatening to boycott the film due to Disney’s plan to release the DVD 12 weeks after the theatrical release, instead of the usual 17 weeks. Odeon actually went ahead with a boycott, although it later agreed to show the film after agreeing a deal with Disney.

As for the DVD/Blu-ray, it will contain nine bonus features including “the making of the Futterwacken Dance, a look inside the world of the Mad Hatter and Johnny Depp’s transformation, Tim Burton’s vision for the movie and its characters, the visual effects of growing and shrinking of Alice, costume designs, music, stunts and more.”

You can pre-order Alice in Wonderland on DVD and Blu-ray via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

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Good news for those living in the UK. Two days ago we heard that the largest cinema chain in the UK, Odeon, would be boycotting Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland because of Disney’s plan to release the DVD 12 weeks after the theatrical release, instead of the usual 17 weeks. Well now they’ve decided not too after coming to an agreement with Disney.

From the BBC:

“The Odeon and UCI Cinema Group is pleased to announce that, following detailed negotiations with the Walt Disney Company Ltd, an enduring agreement has been reached encompassing all the different aspects of both companies’ commercial relationship.

“As a result of this agreement, Odeon is pleased to confirm that it will be able to continue with its plans for significant investment in new cinemas, in digital technology, in 3D capability and the other exciting developments designed for the increased enjoyment of all its customers.”

Neither side would disclose terms of the agreement, but the Cineworld and Vue cinema chains, which will also be screening the film, had previously agreed to a 13-week gap between opening night and the DVD release.

If you heard over to the BBC article you will be able to see an interview with director Tim Burton. In it he says he asked Disney why they had decided to undertake this ’12 week release experiment’ with his movie. The interview was conducted before the agreement today, so he’ll probably be feeling happy about it now. I suppose the controversy gave the film free publicity, so it should do well in the UK.

Alice in Wonderland will be release just about everywhere on March 5th.

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If you’ve been following the Alice in Wonderland/UK cinemas situation over the past few weeks you will know that cinema chains in the UK were threatening to boycott Alice in Wonderland because of Disney’s plan to release the DVD 12 weeks after the theatrical release, instead of the usual 17 weeks window.

Yesterday it was announced that the 2nd largest cinema chain, Vue, would be releasing the film after striking a deal with Disney. However Odeon, the UK’s largest cinema chain, will not be releasing the film in the UK, Irish Republic or Italy. Considering Alice in Wonderland has strong British roots and is well known by all ages the film was expected to make around £40 million ($62 million) in the UK, so it’ll be interesting to see how this boycott will impact its box office return.

Luckily for me there are a number of different cinemas where I live so I won’t have any trouble seeing it, however I’m sure there will be a few poor souls who will have to travel that bit further to see Tim Burton’s wacky take on Wonderland.

Click here to check out Filmonic’s Alice in Wonderland gallery!

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There is just over two weeks to go before we recieve an invitiation for a very important date with a rabbit hole and Tim Burton’s wacky imagination. Disney has already provided us with trailers, posters and images, so now it’s time for the behind the scenes featurettes. The one below features brief interviews with Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter, along with quite a lot of new footage playing in the background.

Earlier this week we heard that UK cinema chains Odeon, Vue and Cineworld (who combined represent 95% of UK 3D screens) may boycott the film due to a dispute with Disney over the DVD release window. Since then Cineworld has struck a deal with Disney after distribution chiefs Bob Chapek and Chuck Viane flew to the UK to try and sort the issue out. However, it looks like they may have to rack up more air miles as cinema owners in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy have also declared their intention to boycott the film.

Alice in Wonderlandmay or may not be released on March 5th…depending on where you are on Earth.

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The first teaser trailer for Alice in Wonderland was great in it’s own way, however now Disney has released a brand new trailer and it is a whole lot better. We see a lot more of Wonderland (which is visual stunning thanks to Mr. Tim Burton) and we finally hear The Cheshire Cat, voiced by Stephen Fry.

Alice in Wonderland stars Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Sir Christopher Lee, and will be released next March.

Update: A new UK trailer has arrived and it is around 30 seconds longer than the trailer above!

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Another Alice in Wonderland poster has been revealed on The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter Facebook page. This one shows Alice herself, played by Mia Wasikowska, and the White Rabbit who will be voiced by Michael Sheen.

You can check out the poster we got a few days ago here! And we will most likely be getting a third poster before the end of the week.

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The trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland has finally arrived for our viewing pleasure. It actually appeared online yesterday in low quality and Disney spent a good few hours trying to remove it. But the high quality version is here and can be seen below!

It looks as weird and wonderful as I expected. You can definitely see where the 3D elements will kick in. I’m looking forward to the next trailer so we can see a bit more of Tim Burton’s world.

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