Where there’s a “Will,” there’s a way for Vanessa Hudgens. “HSM” classmate Ashley Tisdale gets sent “Upstairs.” Plus, Christian Bale becomes one of Johnny Depp’s sworn “Enemies.” It’s all in the latest edition of the Access Hollywood Casting Call!
“High School Musical” star Ashley Tisdale will make her feature film debut in the comedy “They Came From Upstairs,” according to Variety.
The film follows a group of teenagers who must defend their Maine summer home from a group of aliens who have invaded the house.
But fear not “HSM” faithful. Shooting on “Upstairs” will not interfere with Ashley reprising her role as Sharpay Evans in Disney’s “High School Musical 3.
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Meanwhile, fellow “HSM” alum Vanessa Hudgens is also breaking away from the rest of the class, as she has signed on to star in the coming-of-age dramedy “Will,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
Much like “HSM,” it appears Vanessa will still need to keep those vocal chords in shape, as “Will” follows a high school outcast and a popular girl who develop a mutual bond through their love of music. The duo gathers up their friends to form a rock group to compete in the school’s battle of the bands.
Vanessa will play Sam, a 15-year-old former stutterer now speaking slowly and deliberately, who becomes romantically involved with the aforementioned outcast.
Shooting is slated to begin in February in Austin, Texas.
Just like Ashley, Vanessa will also join the gang as Gabriella Montez for the next “High School Musical” movie.
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Jessica Biel will star in the romantic comedy “Easy Virtue,” according to Variety.
The 25-year-old starlet will play a divorcee, who ventures to the South of France and winds up in an impromptu wedding with a young, rich Englishman (played by Ben Barnes).
The newlyweds return to England to face the groom’s disapproving family, including his parents (played by Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas).
“Easy Virtue” is based on Coward’s 1924 three-act play of the same name.
Alfred Hitchcock was actually the first to adapt it in film, with the 1928 silent movie also of the same name.
Biel recently wrapped production on “Powder Blue,” a drama co-starring Lisa Kudrow, Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker.
Barnes’ film credits include “Stardust” and the next chapters in the “Chronicles of Narnia” big-screen franchise.
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Christian Bale is in talks to star alongside Johnny Depp in “Public Enemies,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is based on the Bryan Burroughs book, “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933 – 43,” and chronicles the government’s attempts to stop notorious criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.
Depp will play Dillinger. Bale would play FBI agent Melvin Purvis, who spearheaded the manhunt for Dillinger and collared more bad guys than any other agent in FBI history.
Shooting is scheduled to begin in Chicago and other Midwest locations in late 2008.
Following completion on “Enemies,” Bale will jump into his role as John Connor in the fourth installment in the “Terminator” franchise – “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.”
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Amy Ryan and Greg Kinnear have been tapped to join Matt Damon in the upcoming untitled Iraq war drama, directed by Paul Greengrass, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s nonfiction book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone.”
Damon will play an officer who teams with a senior CIA agent to search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Ryan, who burst onto the scene in the Ben Affleck-directed “Gone Baby Gone,” will play a New York Times foreign correspondent sent to Iraq to investigate the U.S. government’s weapons of mass destruction claims.
Kinnear will play another CIA officer.
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