Actor Chris Evans thinks he’ll most likely retire from the MCU after Avengers 4 – and he probably really means it. Plus, Tiffany Haddish is on fire right now and Amy Poehler is going to direct a movie about wine.
Here is some of the latest casting news of the week:
Chris Evans Says He’ll Probably Hang Up the Shield After Fourth Avengers
So we have heard Evans say this before, that he’s about done playing Steve Rogers aka Captain America, but he put another nail in the Cap coffin in a recent interview with NY Times. He reportedly said after Avengers 4 hits theaters in May 2019, he’ll be exiting the franchise. “You want to get off the train before they push you off,” Evans told NYT.
Out of all the MCU old timers – like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth etc. – Evans has been most vocal about never really loving the whole superhero thing. He’s talked about how he didn’t want the Captain America role to rule his career, and he’s done as much as he can to work outside that MCU bubble. I bet, though, if they asked him to make an appearance as Cap in a future installment, he would. Also expected to exit the franchise is Downey Jr., but he has said if he’s still loving the script and filmmakers behind the next one, he’ll join in.
Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss and Melissa McCarthy Are Starring in a Crime Drama
After her scene-stealing turn in Girls Trip, everyone is clamoring to hire Tiffany Haddish – and it looks like she’s going to branch out with the mob drama The Kitchen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s based on an adaptation of the DC/Vertigo female-fronted crime comic book series of the same name. “Set in in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, in the 1970s, The Kitchen follows the wives of Irish mobsters who end up taking over and running the business after the FBI does a sweep of the mafia and several men are arrested.”
McCarthy will play the matriarch of the group, while Moss plays the meek wife of an abusive husband who finds strength in her new violent role. Haddish is playing a woman willing to kill anyone in the way of her plan, so definitely not the comic relief. McCarthy is also looking to move out of her comic comfort zone, with this and also her fall movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? in which she plays real-life writer Lee Israel who was caught making up letters from famous writers.
Amy Poehler Set to Star in and Direct Wine Country
The Parks and Recreation star is sitting in the director’s seat for the first time – and I’m pretty excited about it. She’ll make her feature directorial debut with Wine Country, a Netflix comedy she will also star in and produce.
The movie centers on a group of old friends who go to Napa for a weekend getaway to celebrate a 50th birthday, and the cast includes a lot of Poehler’s SNL gal pals like Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, Maya Rudolph – and Tina Fey, naturally. Sign me up! (via THR)
Kumail Nanjiani Joins Dave Bautista in New Comedy
Funnyman Kumail Nanjiani is going to play an Uber driver in the action comedy Stuber, which also stars Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Dave Bautista.
Honestly, Stuber sounds like a comedy just waiting to be made. This is the premise, via THR: “Nanjiani will play a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu who picks up a grizzled cop (Bautista). The cop is hot on the trail of a brutal killer, and Stu finds himself thrust into a harrowing ordeal where he has to keep his wits, his life and his five-star rating.” Think the Jamie Foxx/Tom Cruise action thriller Collateral but way more hilarious.
Lucas Hedges Is Going to Play Shia LaBeouf in a Biopic About the Actor’s Life
Yeah, you read that correctly. To be fair, if you’ve ever read anything about Shia LaBeouf’s life, you’d see how it might make a pretty compelling movie.
Titled Honey Boy, the feature is co-written by LaBeouf which tells, in a roman-a-clef style, a story about LaBeouf’s relationship with his father, who was a clown performer and recovering heroin addict. “Honey Boy” is what he called LaBeouf. The actor got his start as a child actor on the Disney show Even Stevens, and when he wasn’t on set, LaBeouf had to go with his dad to 12-step programs.
Hedges, who nominated for an Oscar for his turn in Manchester By the Sea and recently starred in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, will play the younger LaBeouf. This should be interesting.(via THR)
