Jamie Dornan
Jamie Dornan will portray Christian Grey in the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey. The 31 year old actor currently stars on ABC’S “Once Upon A Time”. He was also a former Calvin Klein underwear model. The role originally called for a salary of $125,000 – which is quite low for this type of high profile part. Negotiations are still underway, so time will tell if Dornan will be able to command a higher salary.
Actor Charlie Hunnam is no longer on board to play Christian Grey in the highly anticipated movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. Mere weeks after announcing Hunnam’s casting in the role, the studios behind the film, Universal Pictures and Focus Features, have released this statement:
“The filmmakers of “Fifty Shades of Grey” and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule, which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.” Hunnam is best know for his role on the FX drama “Sons of Anarchy“. No word yet on whether this will affect the casting of Dakota Johnson as the female lead, Anastasia Steele.
Tom Clancy
Prolific writer Tom Clancy died Tuesday night, Oct 1st, at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The cause of death has not been released.
He was best known for his technically detailed espionage and military thrillers. Several were made into movies including The Hunt for Red October, The Sum of All Fears, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. The first Net Force book was made into a television movie and the first Op-Center book was made into a mini-series.
He was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1947. He attended Loyola College as a physics major, but switched to English in his sophomore year. Before becoming an author, he ran an independent insurance agency.
In 1979, he began writing Patriot Games where his hero CIA agent Jack Ryan was introduced. In 1982, he set aside that book and started The Hunt for Red October which was based on a real incident in November 1979 about a Soviet missile frigate attempting to defect.
Seventeen of his novels have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. Besides his stand-alone novels, he has written several series available in paperback format. They are: Op-Center, Net Force, Net Force Explorers, Power Plays, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and EndWar.
He was a part owner of a baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, author of several non-fiction books, developed three board games, and co-founded the video game developer Red Storm Entertainment. He is one of only three authors to sell two million copies on a first printing (other two – J.K. Rowling and John Grisham).
His newest book, Command Authority, is due out in December.
The casting decisions have been made and production will begin soon for the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Charlie Hunnam
Thirty-three year old Charlie Hunnam has been cast as Christian Grey. He recently starred in the movie “Pacific Rim” and appeared in the FX series “Sons of Anarchy”.
Dakota Johnson
Twenty-three year old Dakota Johnson has been cast as Anastasia Steele. She is the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. She recently appeared in the short-lived Fox sit-com “Ben and Kate” and had roles in “The Social Network” and “The Five-Year Engagement”.
Focus Features will release the film on August 1, 2014. Sam Taylor-Johnson is directing the project. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it ‘R’ rated or will they have to go to NC17?
Alexis Bledel
Matt Bomer
UPDATE: It seems not everyone is happy with the above choices. Angry fans of the book are petitioning to have Alexis Bledel and Matt Bomer cast as the leads. The petition has 20,000 signatures so far.
I love it when a new DVD order comes in. For those who love watching movies, it’s like Christmas multiple times in a year. There were several in this batch which I was interested in and had been anticipating their release.
1. Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. Hopkins may not look an awful lot like the late Alfred Hitchcock, but boy, does he have his mannerisms down. My husband was interested in watching this movie, which seemed to fly under the radar. Hitchcock follows the pre-production and filming of Hitchcock’s greatest film: Psycho. Scarlett Johannsen shines in her role and Mirren is as always spot on. 
2. Identity Thief, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. First, let me start by saying that I love Melissa McCarthy. I thought she was charming on Gilmore Girls and hilarious on Mike and Molly. Who can forget her epic movie moment of going to the bathroom in the sink in Bridesmaids? Identity Thief started out with an excellent premise: McCarthy steals people’s identities, and you truly hate her for a lot of the movie. There are a lot of laughs, especially when Bateman and McCarthy are verbally dueling, but like Bridesmaids, it loses the funny 2/3 way through and becomes serious. I want to watch a comedy and laugh the whole way through, not learn a lesson.
3. Boy, starring Taika Waititi and James Rolleston. A Sundance Film Festival selection, Boy takes place in Australia in 1984. “Boy” idolizes both Michael Jackson and his father, who is a distant memory to him. “Boy” envisions him as a deep sea diver, war hero, and even Michael Jackson himself. His father returns home after spending seven years in jail and “Boy” has to confront the role model he imagined and the real man.
4. The Borgias, Seasons 2 and 3, starring Jeremy Irons and Holliday Grainger. All good things must come to an end, and the third season of the Borgias is the final season. But fear not! The original crime family (Mario Puzo based The Godfather on the Borgia family) has plenty in store for you in these seasons. We’ve seen the devious path Lucretiza is going down and the inner politicking Pope Alexander, AKA Rodrigo Borgia has been up to.
5. The Devil’s Backbone. This Spanish foreign-film, directed by Guillermo del Torro, deals with a personal subject for the director. Set during the final week of the Spanish Civil War, a ten year old boy is sent to a haunted orphanage after his freedom-fighting father is killed. This is a gothic ghost story, murder mystery, and historical melodrama done only in the style del Torro can do.
See you in the stacks,
Jenn
