A couple of casting updates for you, for some films that are getting to roll or are already underway.
First up, the rising Paula Patton who impressed in “Precious” and is set to hang off the arm of Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” has joined the massive ensemble of “Disconnect.” She will star alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Frank Grillo, Andrea Riseborough, Colin Ford, Michael Nyqvist and Jason Bateman in the film that will follow a wide variety of characters as they struggle with how technology has impacted their lives. Skarsgård will play a former Marine who seeks out an affair after being emotionally cut off by his wife, while also struggling to make ends meet; Nyqvist will play a guy who Skarsgård thinks stole his identity and Bateman plays a computer expert who is eager to protect his 15-year-old son (Ford) from the dangers of the internet, but is probably not aware that the kid is already forming a relationship online by posing as a teen girl. No word yet on what her role will be, but the long absent “Murderball” director Henry-Alex Rubin will helm the film.
Meanwhile, “Prison Break” actor Robert Knepper (he played T-Bag) has come aboard the currently lensing “R.I.P.D.” Directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak and Marissa Miller, the film is based on a graphic novel and follows a pair of deceased detectives, one a recently murdered cop (Reynolds), the other a gunslinger from the Old West (Bridges) who are part of the titular crime busting unit that is made up of ghosts. Knepper will play one of those ghosts known as “deados” in the movie. You’ll have to wait for this one though as it won’t be hitting theaters until June 28, 2013. [Deadline/THR]
