CASTING - Scarlett Johansson will scream in "The Making of Psycho"; Emma Watson is the next "Sofia Coppola girl";

If I was loosing my hopes in Scarlett Johansson, they are comming back as her career seems to be back on track: she signed to portray Janet Leigh in Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil - Documentary) directed behind-the-scenes drama Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho that has been in development for a long time. Anthony Hopkins is set to play Hitchcock, while Helen Mirren will play his wife, Alma Reville. The movie tells the story of how Hitchcock got the movie made when no studio didn't want to finance the project and it ended to become of of the most iconic movies in history with one of the most iconic movie scenes (THAT shower scene). Fox Searchlight took the project, which is a great indicator of the movie's potential, since it is the studio behind highly acclaimed productions like The Descendants, Juno, Shame, Little Miss Sunshine, Once, Black Swan, 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire or (500) Days of Summer, just to name a few.

Miss Johansson has been away from high-quality projects too long and now she has a big couple exciting upcoming projects and promising roles: Joss Whedon's The Avengers (not an acting showcase, for sure, but it can be a great blockbuster), Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin (a one woman show by the same man who directed Nicole Kidman in Birth and Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast), John Carney's Can a Song Save Your Life? (from the director of the universally acclaimed Once) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut Don Jon's Addiction (a sexy comedy). Thank God Scarlett is being cast in interesting projects... she has a great natural acting talent and she was becoming to be seen as just an eye-candy!

Sofia Coppola's upcoming project, named The Bling Ring, will have Emma Watson (from Harry Potter saga) as the leading lady. According to the full press release,

"BLING RING shows a group of teenagers obsessed with fashion and fame who burglarized the homes of celebrities in Los Angeles. Tracking their targets’ whereabouts online, the teens would break-in and steal designer clothes and possessions. Reflecting on the naiveté of youth, amplified by today’s culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession, the members of the Bling Ring introduce us to temptations that nearly any teenager would find hard to resist. What starts out as youthful fun spins out of control and reveals a sobering view of our modern culture."

It seems Emma is building such an enviable, solid and interesting post-Harry Potter-franchise career and this may be a potential acting showcase for her. She surely benefits from her "commercial power", that's a fact, but being cast as the leading lady of a Sofia Coppola movie is a "certified acting talent" mark. After My Week With Marilyn, the first project after the end of the Harry Potter series, Emma nabbed the main female role in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and signed for David Yates' Your Voice In My Head and for Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming adaptation of The Beauty and the Beast... It seems that Watson is gaining the "Movie star of tomorrow" title!

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today - 2017

The almost annual TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today is out, with me considering the performers' performances of 2016 also. We have a few changes since last year's list, with Greta Gerwig toping the list thanks to her last 3 great performances in Mistress America , Maggie's Plan and the Oscar buzzy acting turn in 20th Century Women . Scarlett Johansson comes second with her latest distinguished performance being in 2014 ( Under the Skin ), but she managed to be at the spotligh this year thanks to her fine turns in critically acclaimed movies: Hail, Caesar! , Captain America: Civil War , The Jungle Book (voice) and Sing (voice). Emily Blunt adds another great performance to her resume in The Girl on the Train and she comes third, while Elle Fanning 's turning into one of the finest actresses and she's getting to play more adult and complex parts like The Neon Demon and 20th Century Women 's (her two best performances since Super 8 ). Finall...

TOP 10 Most Promising Movie Actors (under 30)

Today I discussed about how awful some "teen icons" are and then we talked about some exceptions. So, I decided to make a little list, a TOP 10, with the male actors that I think that will become music in an ocean of noise somewhere in the future (I did one list before, but it was a little bit pathetic and I didn't justify my choices). Let's start... 1 - Ryan Gosling He may not have a huge list of movies in his body of work, but the few times he makes something, all the time he almost carries the movie. In fact, Gosling is a proof that talent does exist and that you don't need excentrical characters to receive raves. He rose to fame after the big screen adaptation of The Notebook (2004) and then received lots of critical praise for his performances in movies like Half Nelson (that gave him an Oscar, a SAG Award and other major awards nominations), Lars and the Real Girl (that gave him a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and other major awards nominations) and Fractur...

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses with or under 35 years old: 2018

I think it was my TOP 35 under 35 list I've ever done since I remember: so many great performers emerged last year with distinguished performances that elevated their previous works (I'm talking about Elizabeth Olsen , Lucas Hedges , Robert Pattinson , Gaspard Ulliel , Tessa Thompson or Jamie Bell , for example). I'm kinda sad I felt "forced" at letting Jonah Hill ( Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street ) and Emma Watson ( The Perks of Being a Wallflower , The Bling Ring and 2017's Beauty and the Beast ) out of the list. Congratulations to Kirsten Dunst , who turned 35 last year so she can not be included in this year's list - such an amazing child actress turned movie star, who delivered memorable performances in Interview with the Vampire (1994), The Virgin Suicides (1999), The Cat's Meow (2002) or Melancholia (2011). This year, Saoirse Ronan tops the list thanks to two great performances: On Chesil Beach and an iconic acting turn in Lad...

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