Casting Notes: Emma Bell In ‘Final Destination 5’; Ted Danson In ‘Everybody Loves Whales’; Jon Hamm In ‘Friends With Kids’
We’ve been getting a lot ofcasting infoaboutFinal Destination 5, which James Cameron protegeSteven Qualeis soon directing.Emma BellfromFrozenandThe Walking Deadis signing on as the female lead.
She’ll joinP.J. Byrne,Tony Todd,David Koechner,Meghan Ory,Nicholas D’Agosto,Ellen Wroe,Arlen EscarpetaandMiles Fisherwhen the film shoots in Vancouver later this month. Expect more antics in which death stalks people, who end up expiring in rather extravagent ways. [Arrow in the Head]
After the break, Ted Danson hates whales, and Jon Hamm partners up with his real-life wife.
The OfficestafferKen Kwapisis preparing to directEverybody Loves Whales, withJohn Krasinski,Drew Barrymore,Kristen BellandTim Blake Nelson, and the picture has just addedTed DansonandVinessa Shaw.
The film is based onFreeing the Whales, a non-fiction account byTom Roseof how “a small-town reporter (John Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who enlist the help of rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle.” The story takes place in the waning days of the Cold War in 1988. Danson is an oilman who doesn’t care about saving the whales; Shaw is a White House staffer who wants the US to aid the effort. [THR]
Jennifer Wesfeldtis prepping her second feature as director, and it looks like her husband,Jon Hamm, will join the film.Friends With Kidsis the title, and the couple are reportedly trying to landAnne HathawayandKristen Wiigas well. Not many details on the story, but the title suggests a family/relationship drama to follow Westfeldt’sKissing Jessica Stein. [Roger Friedman]
