Casting News : Headey, Livingston, Taylor, Byrne, Davis, Roberts, Malcolmson, Crews, Cathegi

Lena Headey (“Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, “Game of Thrones”, “300”) will star opposite sci-fi vet Ethan Hawke in Universal’s “Vigilandia”. Though plot details are being kept under wraps, this is an original project from Platinum Dunes – the shingle best known for remaking all the classic horror movies, like “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Friday the 13th”. Seems the company, spearheaded by Michael Bay, is shifting their focus to fresher product. The film is said to encompass a rather modest budget (something along the lines of “Insidious”) so don’t expect to hear of any more big names joining the production; Hawke and Headey are as big as it’ll possibly get for this one. (Variety)

Gabriel Byrne, who for the past four seasons has fronted Showtime’s “In Treatment”, is headed back to the UK to star in a four-part drama series about “politician Tom Dawkins, a reluctant hero thrust into the spotlight following an industrial disaster that raises questions about the safety procedures of the U.S. petrochemical company involved. Dawkins risks everything by taking on the establishment in his pursuit of the truth, uncovering a web of secrets along the way. The series is based on the novel A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin and was adapted for the screen by Robert Jones.” The Channel 4 production will air later this year. (Deadline)

Emma Roberts (“Scream 4”) and Craig Roberts (“Submarine”; and no relation) will star in Derick Martini’s film, about “two brothers, wildly different, who discover their parents have been hiding a startling and life-altering secret from them for over two decades.” (Deadline)

“Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” vet Warwick Davis will star in a heist comedy about five dwarves who team to rob a bank. They want the cash to pay for an operation that a young girl, the daughter of their getaway driver, desperately needs. They sit on the money and try to sweat out the police investigation. But when the money goes missing, they decide to pull another job. A local mob boss gets wind of the new plan and persuades (or rather, forces) the dwarves to do a job for him instead: a huge diamond heist worth over £5 million. But the cops have infiltrated the gang and the heist leads to an action packed denouement.

Kim Basinger, Nick Nolte, Kevin Hart and Arnold Vosloo are onboard Roger Spotiswoode’s (“Tomorrow Never Dies”) Precious McKenzie MBE biopic. The former Olympian overcame incredible odds to escape poverty, violence and racial hatred in apartheid South Africa and eventually triumph on the world stage.

Lili Taylor (“Say Anything…”, “Mystic Pizza”) and Ron Livingston (“Sex & the City”, “Office Space”) have joined the cast of James Wan’s latest spookfest. Now under the working title of the Untitled Warren Files Project, the script, written by Chad and Carey Hayes, centers on “a husband and wife team (Wilson, Vera Farmiga) of demonologists and psychic investigators who enter the most horrifying case of their career, spirits in a Rhode Island farmhouse. Livingston and Taylor will play a couple who move with their kids to the farmhouse and begin to be haunted.” The film is inspired by the true story of the Perron family, whose Rhode Island home was paid a visit by some spirits. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Terry Crews (“The Expendables”), Sam Witwer (“Being Human”), William Fichtner (“Entourage”) and Aussie wrestler Nathan Jones are in talks for writer/director Martin J.Thomas’s actioner, about a former United States Marine who embarks on a brutal personal mission to find his cousins murderer. Production is due to begin in July.

The terrific Paula Malcolmson, known for her roles on “Deadwood” and “Caprica”, will star opposite Liev Schreiber in Showtime’s drama pilot about “Ray (Schreiber), a professional “fixer” for LA’s rich and famous, the go-to guy in Hollywood who deftly solves the highly confidential problems of the city’s most intriguing personalities but can’t quite escape the damage in his own troubled family. Malcomson will play Ray’s wife Abby, a Boston tough girl who is still finding it hard to assimilate into the fast lane of Hollywood.” Malcolmson will soon be seen on the big screen as Katniss’s mother in “The Hunger Games”. (Deadline)

Legends Kathy Bates and James Earl Jones will join “Twilight” star Edi Cathegi and Sarah Bolger in writer/director Francesco Lucente’s fantasy about an orphan, Pamela (Sarah Bolger) who feels responsible for her parents’ death and prevents herself from venturing out into the world and living her life. Frustrated by her self-imposed isolation, and yearning to break free of her tragic past, she makes a wish and her life changes forever. The film is due for release next year.