1.) Amber Heard has joined Kevin Costner and Haliee Steinfeld in the McG-directed actioner Three Days to Kill. Scripted by Luc Besson (Taken, The Professional) and Adi Hasak, the film centers on a drying Secret Service agent (Costner) who decides to retire in order to reconnect with his daughter (Steinfeld). He takes an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for doing one last assignment, although the drug turns out to have some hallucinatory side effects. Heard will play the woman who makes him this offer. [Variety]
2.) The Departed screenwriter William Monahan has been called in by Paramount to do a re-write on the Mark Wahlberg vehicle American Desperado. The true crime story tells of Jon Roberts getting rich off smuggling cocaine into the U.S. Wahlberg has been developing the project since 2008, while Peter Berg was attached to direct at one point. Berg and Wahlberg just wrapped Lone Survivor, so I’m thinking there’s still a chance Berg could helm this project if he likes Monahan’s script. [Deadline]
3.) Actor Cary Elwes is preparing to make his directorial debut on a biopic of Kit Lambert, who discovered and managed legendary rockers The Who. Surviving band members Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry are on board to contribute biographical details and all the necessary tunes. Producer Orian Williams calls the film a “riches to rags story,” as Lambert lost most of his money at the end of his career when his drug and alcohol abuse spiraled out of control. He died in 1981 after falling down the stairs at his mother’s house. [THR]
4.) Garrett Hedlund has confirmed he will return for the sequel to Tron: Legacy. Jesse Wigutow was recently hired to pen the script, while sources suggest the pic could begin shooting in 2014. Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski, who has Oblivion coming out this spring, is expected to be back as well. [NextMovie]
5.) Dylan McDermott has joined the Stephen King adaptation Mercy, from director Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut). The film is based on King’s 1985 short story “Skeleton Crew” and follows two young boys who go along with their mother to pay their grandmother a visit in the hospital, only to learn their grandmother is a witch. Chandler Riggs (“The Walking Dead”) and Joel Courtney (Super 8 were previously cast as the brothers, while Frances O’Conner (A.I. Artificial Intelligence) will play their mother. McDermott’s character is a now-married man who has a romantic history with the mother and still might have feelings for her. [ShockTillYouDrop]
