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Casting: Matt Smith joins Edgar Wright's horror thriller; SYFY's Cipher taps Adrian Grenier; more
Former Doctor Who star Matt Smith has joined the cast of director Edgar Wright's new movie, titled Last Night in Soho. Also climbing aboard the psychological horror film is Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, who won accolades for her performance in the 2018 film Leave No Trace.
The plot of Wright's follow-up to Baby Driver is enveloped in secrecy for now, but Smith and McKenzie join Anya Taylor-Joy (Glass) in the movie, which is scheduled to shoot this summer. McKenzie just finished up a role in Jojo Rabbit, from another popular genre director, Taika Waititi. Smith has been in talks for a role in Morbius, but his sci-fi credentials are secure after his three-plus years as the 11th Doctor.
Last Night in Soho is expected to arrive sometime in 2020 from Focus Features.
SYFY has recruited Adrian Grenier (Entourage) for a starring role in a new pilot called Cipher. Grenier will play John, the father of a 13-year-old video game addict named Asa who has secret military technology unexpectedly implanted in his brain. With Asa's life suddenly in danger, John must do everything possible to protect his son.
Grenier played up-and-coming Hollywood actor Vincent Chase for eight seasons on HBO's Entourage, while also starring in a spin-off movie. One of the show's plotlines involved Chase playing Aquaman for director James Cameron — a narrative that was milked for laughs at the time (although no one's laughing now).
Also appearing in the Cipher pilot will be Sydney Morton, playing an NSA operative named Bridgette who knows more about the source of the tech inside Asa's head than she lets on. Morton has worked extensively in the theater but will be seen this year in a new TV series adapted from the Spike Lee film She's Gotta Have It.
The Cipher pilot will be directed by Peter Hoar (The Umbrella Academy), with Alison Miller writing the script. Executive producers include Miller and the Halloween reboot team of David Gordon Green and Danny McBride.
Deadline reports that Cameron Gellman (Heathers) has booked a role as a regular on the upcoming Stargirl show that will stream on DC Universe. Gellman will play an "undisclosed DC character" on the series.
Stargirl is based on the character created in 1999 by acclaimed DC writer Geoff Johns and will serve as a re-imagining of both the title superhero and the Justice Society of America. Brec Bassinger will play the lead role, while the rest of the impressive cast includes Joel McHale as Starman, Lou Ferrigno Jr. as Golden Age Hourman, Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan, Henry Thomas as Dr. Mid-Nite, Joy Osmanski as Tigress, Neil Hopkins as Sportsmaster, and Nelson Lee as Dragon King, along with Christopher James Baker, Yvette Monreal, Meg DeLacy, Jake Austin Walker, and Anjelika Washington in yet-to-be-revealed roles.
Johns is writing the first of the show's 13 episodes, which are expected to premiere later this year on the DC streaming service.
While he continues to tease fans about the possibility of playing the Penguin, Josh Gad (Frozen II) is going to blast off in a new HBO space comedy tentatively titled Avenue 5. According to Deadline, Gad will play Herman Judd, a billionaire whose business empire includes hotels, fitness clubs, and space tourism.
Hugh Laurie (Tomorrowland) and Zach Woods (Silicon Valley) are also part of the cast for the show, which is said to be set in the future and largely in space. The series is created by Armando Iannucci, best known for his scathing political satires like Veep and The Death of Stalin. We'll see if he does the same with sci-fi ...
