Friday casting rally!

As is always the case, trying to keep up with all the news of the industry on top of casting decisions sometimes gets a little out of hand. So I'm here again to give you the latest lo-down of who hopped onto who's casting couch.

20th Century Fox recently landed Kevin Bisch's (Hitch screenwriter) script for a new comedy, Avon Man, about a laid off car salesman forced into a job as an Avon make-up salesman who eventually uses his charm and looks to become a top seller. Looks indeed, ladies, as Hugh Jackman will be stepping into the lead role using foundation as a weapon instead of claws.

Source: Variety

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Everyone's favorite Riverdancing detective is going to be spending some time on Doug Quaid's preferred planet. Willem Dafoe will be starring alongside dreamy (puke) Taylor Kitsch and the yummy Lynn Collins in John Carter of Mars. Trying to summarize the story is proving fruitless, so The Hollywood Reporter has this:

It's the story of a Civil War soldier transported to the red planet where warring races vie for control.

Dafoe plays Tars Tarkas, leader of a race native to Mars called the Tharks who are locked in their own civil war.  Currently in pre-pro, John Carter of Mars wil see silver screens in 2012.

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As averse as I am to the remake of Sam Peckinpah's classic, Straw Dogs, Alexander Skarsgard is a casting choice that sends a glimmer of hope about the project. Hitting a home run for American audiences as Sgt. Colbert in HBO's incredible Generation Kill, Swedish born Skarsgard now spends most of his time tearing people limb from limb as devious yet wonderfully lovable Eric Northman in the wildly successful True Blood, also on HBO. Dog's has Dustin Hoffman replaced by James Marsden, which is terrible, and is being directed by Rod Lurie, whose resume doesn't warrant him access to straight to video horror porn let alone access to such a classic. My hopes for this one are not high, only the producers.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter | IMDB

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Rookie actress Sarah Habel did what every real actress usually does and started at the bottom landing roles in such hits as Butterfly Effect 3, and 2 episodes of that Patrick Swayze show that I'm sure you've all heard of The Beast. The climb is always fruitful for good young actresses though as we're going to see her crop up in Drew Berrymore's Whip It, and now she's signed on to Unrequited to play a kidnapee of an ex-boyfriend trying his hardest to win back her affections. Unrequited will be directed by Jason Epperson, one of the top 5 finalists on Fox's failed reality show On the Lot.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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In other famous Hellish beast news, Scott Speedman, of Underworld fame, and Bruce Greenwood who you can see convincing a rambunctious Kirk to join Starfleet, have both signed on opposite Paul Giamatti in "Barney's Version". The story follows Barney (Giamatti), an alzheimers patient, as he recounts his life. Speedman will play Barney's friend who has probably the most fun name on the cast, Boogie, and Greenwood will be playing Blair, "Barney's rival in love."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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Grindhouse brought with it not only two fun, over the top displays of film making decadence, but it also brought several "fake" trailers that sparked even more buzz on the web than the actual movies. And now, Machete is flying into production and casting news is abound. Bloody Disgusting gets the insider scoop on who's playing who.

-MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ ("Lost", Fast & Furious, Avatar) is said to be playing "Luz".
-JONAH HILL, the comedian who has starred in such films as Superbad and the forthcoming Adam Sandler comedy Funny People, will play "Julio".
-Lastly, a legend of our time, ROBERT DE NIRO, will take on the role of "Senator McLaughlin".

I'm actually not sure about how I feel about any of those choices really. De Niro is usually great, but in that role, it could be disastrous. And Jonah Hill is hilarious, but how does he fit into this by playing a mexican named Julio. It's not the kind of funny Machete needs. The generous guys at BD also provided us a nice embed for the Machete trailer from Grindhouse. Enjoy (NSFW).

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And finally, if you've stuck around this long you get to hear about Ed Helms, current annoyer of Jim Halpert on The Office, is on the boat for Cedar Rapids to be directed by Miguel Arteta. Details on the movie are slim, but it looks like Helms will play the lead in a fish-out-of-water road-trip comedy. More details as they become available.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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And for right now, that's all she wrote. Probably old news to any of you true movie fans, but if you're like me and like to just skim the casting headlines, I hope this summary got you there.