Back in July, while talking about Cloud Atlas getting extra funding, Variety mentioned that Hugh Grant was among the cast, however I assumed the writer had a brain-fart and meant to mention Hugo Weaving instead who previously confirmed he’d play 6 roles in the film. But now a press release to mark the start of filming has been sent out, and Grant’s name is among those confirmed to star.

Here’s the full cast line-up, along with a new plot description:

Producers Grant Hill and Stefan Arndt announce that CLOUD ATLAS will begin filming on September 16th. The ambitious, independently financed film will be co-directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, directors/writers of the ground-breaking MATRIX trilogy, and Tom Tykwer, director/writer of PERFUME and RUN LOLA RUN.

Academy Award® winners Tom Hanks and Halle Berry lead an all-star ensemble cast that includes Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Keith David and David Gyasi. The film also stars Hugh Grant and Susan Sarandon, with Chinese actress Zhou Xun and Doona Bae from Korea rounding out the internationally acclaimed cast.

CLOUD ATLAS is an epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution.

The Wachowskis and Tykwer co-wrote CLOUD ATLAS, an adaptation of the celebrated best-selling novel by David Mitchell. Their unique creative collaboration began several years ago and has resulted in a vision that involves simultaneous filming of two full units that will take them to Scotland, Spain and Germany.

Preparation for filming on the Spanish island of Majorca is under-way, and the Earl of Pembroke (an 18th century wooden barque tall ship built in 1945) was filmed at Port de Soller this weekend.

Shooting will also take place in Glasgow, Scotland on the 16th, with local residents and business being informed of street closures:

Douglas Street and St Vincent Lane are going to play an important role in the film as the main location for the climactic action sequence in one of the six story lines which is set in San Francisco in the 1970’s. Our scenes will involve a car crash and shoot out on Douglas Street (on the junction with St Vincent Lane) followed by a chase down St Vincent Lane.

No release date has been set for Cloud Atlas, but Warner Bros. is expected to release the movie sometime in late 2012. Filming will continue until December.

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While most of Cloud Atlas will be shot in Berlin starting later this month, The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) will also be needing other locations for the movie, which follows six storylines ranging from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future.

Today STV reports that production will be heading to Glasgow, Scotland (which said goodbye to Brad Pitt and World War Z this week), and there is a casting call for extras in Majorca (a popular tourist island off the coast of Spain).

Generally news of shooting locations doesn’t interest me that much, but with the cast of Cloud Atlas playing multiple roles (mixing race and gender) this information is helping us to unravel who is playing who.

STV says Halle Berry and Tom Hanks will film in Glasgow between 16 – 18 September and on 26 September. This pretty much confirms Berry will be playing Luisa Rey, a journalist in 1970s California who discovers that a much hyped local nuclear power plant is not as safe as it seem (expect corruption, car chases and murder). Hanks could be playing a number of characters in this story, but he will likely be Joe Napier, a former cop who helps Luisa Rey.

Meanwhile the Majorca Film Commission has sent out a casting call looking for over 200 extras, with the first request asking for men, woman and children of all ages. This is likely for the sixth story which is set on the island of Hawaii in 2321 where life has reverted to the days of tribal living after most of humanity dies during “The Fall”. Zachry, a tribesman, is visited by Meronym (Berry), a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization.

They also request men between the ages of 25 and 45 with slightly long hair and scruffy beards to play sailors, as well as body doubles for Jim Sturgess and Jim Broadbent. This points towards the story of Adam Ewing in 1850, a lawyer visiting the Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand who witnesses the colonization and conversion of the Maori.

The ambitious Cloud Atlas doesn’t have a release date yet, but Warner Bros. will be aiming for a late-2012 or early 2013 release.

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With filming set to begin next month it looks like all of the major players in Cloud Atlas have been announced. The most recent was Jim Sturgess last week, who joins Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Bae Doona, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent.

So far none of the roles (each actor will play multiple) have been confirmed and we’ve had to go on IMDB listings and speculation from those who have read David Mitchell’s novel, but in a recent interview Ben Whishaw (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) confirmed the three roles he’ll be taking on. One involves learning how to play the piano, and one involves being a woman.

From Vulture:

Let’s talk Cloud Atlas for a moment. Are you learning piano now for the movie?
Yes, I am! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages, and it was a lovely excuse to fulfill that dream. I’m really enjoying it. I’m not that bad, but all I can play so far are the pieces in the film. And I’m reading the book now; I guess I’m about halfway through.

One of your co-stars, Hugo Weaving, said he was playing six parts. Who are your characters?
Everyone in the cast is playing at least three parts, some big and some small. I’m doing three: Frobisher in the thirties; a female American in the seventies, in the Luisa Rey section; and a smallish role, where I’m basically an extra, in a modern-day nursing home, in the Timothy Cavendish section. Everybody’s swapping race and gender, so it’s very ambitious and quite fun. I’ll really love playing a woman!

Robert Frobisher is the lead character in the chapter ‘Letters from Zedelghem’ which is set in the 1930s. Frobisher, a penniless young musician, flees from his debtors in England and finds work as an amanuensis to a dying world-class composer (either Jim Broadbent or Tom Hanks) living in Belgium.

Cloud Atlas follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) are co-directing and will be in charge of different teams to shoot the six storylines. Tykwer will probably handle the period era plotlines while The Wachowskis direct the sci-fi scenes set in the future.

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Jim Sturgess, who can currently be seen opposite Anne Hathaway in rom-com drama One Day, confirmed to USA Today that he will soon be heading to Berlin to shoot the movie adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas alongside Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Bae Doona, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent.

Cloud Atlas follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. Sturgess didn’t reveal his role to USA Today, but like his fellow cast members he’ll probably be taking on multiple characters. Sturgess spoke about the movie to The Playlist a few weeks ago when there was talk of him joining.

”[All the actors] play a few characters, it’s very clever what [the directors are] gonna try and do. I’m really really really excited about it,” Sturgess continued. “I think it’s going to be bonkers, it’s either going to work or it’s not. I’m really excited to see if we can pull it off, because it’s ambitious what they want to do. And it’s nice, you feel like no one’s ever done that in a film before, it’s like rep theater on a sort of giant movie scale.”

Earlier this week we heard shooting would begin in late-September, with The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) in charge of different teams to shoot the six storylines. Tykwer will probably handle the period era plotlines while The Wachowskis direct the sci-fi scenes set in the future.

Specific roles haven’t been confirmed, but Halle Berry is expected to play Meronym, a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization, and South Korean actress Bae Doona (The Host) will likely play Sonmi~451, a genetically-engineered clone in the year 2144. Hugo Weaving revealed earlier this year that he’ll be playing 6 different characters.

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If you’ve been following the movie adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas you’ll know The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) are co-directing, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Bae Doona, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent are starring, and Warner Bros. are aiming for a release towards the end of next year.

In a new interview producer Stefan Ardnt said the movie is now set to begin shooting mid-to-late September at Germany’s Studio Babelsberg with financing and cast deals almost in place. He also said the budget was “definitely lower” than the $100 million – $120 million number which had been thrown around, and revealed the unique filming set-up with Tykwer and The Wachowskis.

From THR:

“Many have called the novel unfilmable, but Tom [Tykwer] and the Wachowskis have found a way to tell these stories in an amazing, linear and very cinematic way,” Arndt said.

Part of the concept of the film will see the actors play multiple roles in the various storylines. Tykwer and the Wachowski siblings will shoot parallel to each other using two separate film crews. Arndt wouldn’t confirm details but it’s expected Tykwer, whose credits include the 18th century-set Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, will handle Cloud Atlas’ period era plotlines while the Wachowskis apply their Matrix mojo to the novel’s sci-fi settings.

Cloud Atlas follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. Over the weekend I tracked down and read the script out of curiosity, and the draft I read was very long and very ambitious. All six stories are told simultaneously, cutting from 2346 to 2009 to 1864 and back again. The payoff is a conclusion which wraps up all the stories in an epic fashion.

Specific roles haven’t been confirmed, but Halle Berry is expected to play Meronym, a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization, and South Korean actress Bae Doona (The Host) will likely play Sonmi~451, a genetically-engineered clone in the year 2144. Hugo Weaving revealed earlier this year that he’ll be playing 6 different characters.

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Cloud Atlas, which will be co-directed by The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) gained momentum after Warner Bros. came on-board to produce and distribute earlier this year. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry were confirmed as the leads, with Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent joining in supporting roles. Hugo Weaving also joined the film, and revealed that he would in fact be playing 6 different characters.

With filming set to begin later this year in Germany details have emerged from The Guardian which suggest an October 2012 release date is likely, and Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell seems to be more than happy with the adaptation.

Here’s what he had to say:

Mitchell told the Guardian on Wednesday he had read the “deeply impressive” script nine months ago. “They aren’t attempting merely to film the book, which is why many adaptations come to grief – the novel’s already there, so why spend all that effort on an audiobook with visuals?” he said via email.

“Rather, the three directors have assembled Cloud Atlas and reassembled it in a form which – fingers crossed – will be a glorious, epic thing. The reincarnation motif in the book is just a hinted-at linking device, but the script gives it centre stage to link the six worlds with characters, causes and effects. A novel can’t do multi-role acting: a film can. The directors are playing to the strengths of their medium, just like I try to.”

He said he was determined to be on set when filming starts. “Watch a line I wrote come out of the amazing Jim Broadbent’s mouth? Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

Asked what he thought about his creation being touted as the most expensive German film of all time, Mitchell said: “I’d be dishonest if I didn’t confess to a tinge of pride. Plus a bit of ‘blimey’ and gratitude that it’s not my job to handle the budget.”

It’s encouraging to see the author getting behind the film and acknowledging that films and books will ultimately differ. Mitchell’s backing, along with the acting talent The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer have managed to assemble, suggests the movie will be one to keep an eye on over the next year or so.

Cloud Atlas follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. Each actor in the film will be playing multiple roles, and while specific roles haven’t been confirmed, Halle Berry is expected to play Meronym, a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization.

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During the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month it was announced that Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent would be joining Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas, which will be co-directed by The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). At the time it was mentioned each actor would be playing multiple roles, and Weaving recently confirmed he will in fact be playing 6 different characters in the film.

From Herald Sun:

In August, he will take his acclaimed production of Uncle Vanya, with Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh and Jacki Weaver, to Washington DC. After that, he will head to Berlin to reunite with the Wachowski Brothers, directors of the Matrix films, for their big screen version of the acclaimed novel Cloud Atlas, co-starring Academy Award winners Tom Hanks and Halle Berry.

“That’s a project that’s really exciting because all the actors will be playing more than one role,” Weaving says. “I actually have six characters in the same film and they are all different people in six different stories.”

Cloud Atlas, based on the novel by David Mitchell, follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. With Weaving taking on that many characters we can probably expect the rest of the cast to play a similar number of roles, depending on whether they fit within the different time periods.

It’ll be interesting to see how The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer handle this as it’s already been compared to Christoper Nolan’s Inception in the sense that it’s supposed to be an intelligent movie that will require the audience to think. Having the same actors popping up in different time periods could certainly confuse a few people.

Filming is set to begin in September, with Warner Bros. releasing the film sometime in 2012.

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Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) are currently at the Cannes Film Festival to sell international rights for their upcoming film Cloud Atlas, based on the novel by David Mitchell. The team co-wrote the script and will each co-direct different segments of the film, which was yesterday confirmed to star Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, and Ben Whishaw.

While the trio discussed their vision of the film in front of crowd of international buyers, they announced that Oscar winners Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent would also be joining the film.

Sarandon previously worked with The Wachowskis on Speed Racer, and has recently been seen in The Lovely Bones and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Broadbent has appeared in Moulin Rouge! and Hot Fuzz, but is probably best known for his role of Professor Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He’ll also be seen as Slughorn in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in July.

Cloud Atlas follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. Each actor in the film will be playing multiple roles. While specific roles haven’t been confirmed, Halle Berry is expected to play Meronym, a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization.

Filming is set to begin in September, with Warner Bros. releasing the film sometime in 2012.

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The first trailer for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has appeared online. The film is a sequel to the 1987 Academy Award-winning film Wall Street, which also gave Michael Douglas an Oscar win for Best Actor. Douglous and Charlie Sheen are back, and this time they are joined by Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon and Frank Langella.

As the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster, a young Wall Street trader partners with disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko on a two-tiered mission: To alert the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was responsible for the death of the young trader’s mentor.

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The trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones is now online, and can be watched below. The film tells the story of a young girl, Susie Salmon, who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. However this heaven isn’t all cloudy and fluffy like we’d imagine, it’s full of great looking CGI scenes like the one above.

We would have already seen The Lovely Bones by now if Paramount didn’t push it back to December. The studio thinks the film is Oscar bait, which I think it might be. It’s Peter Jackson afterall. He can make a movie about a giant gorilla win 3 Oscars, so a film about a murdered young girl should see him choking on the gold.

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