Bradley Cooper to Star in Spielberg's "AMERICAN SNIPER"

Yesterday’s news that Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) would be departing Gavin O’Connor’s Jane Got a Gun makes a little more sense in light of today’s news: Cooper will star inAmerican Sniper for director Steven Spielberg.  The Oscar-nominated actor has been involved with the picture - an adaptation of the bestselling Navy SEAL autobiography - for at least a year now.  It was previously thought that Cooper would re-team with director David O. Russell for the picture, but with those two currently filming American Hustle, it looks like Spielberg has signed on forAmerican Sniper.

The autobiography from Texan Navy SEAL Chris Kyle retells his exploits of recording the highest number of sniper kills for an American, earning himself the nickname al-Shaitan (“the devil”) from Iraqi insurgents.  Passages from Kyle’s wife, “who slowly watches as her husband’s affection turns from her to the SEALs and war,” form an emotional core.  

Director Colin Trevorrow leaks Jurassic Park 4 Set Photo

Though it only recently landed a director and has yet to fill out its cast, Jurassic Park 4 is still planned to hit theaters next summer.  Safety Not Guaranteed helmer Colin Trevorrow was tapped to direct the sequel last month, and Steven Spielberg is onboard to produce alongside Frank Marshall.  We know that Trevorrow will shoot in 3D and the film has a script by Rick Jaffa andAmanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) that includes a new dinosaur, but other than that story details have been kept firmly under wraps.

Will we see the return of original characters?  Is there a new park?  Just how big can the dino droppings get?  These questions have yet to be answered, but it appears that Trevorrow has just offered a major hint regarding the pic’s story, as he shared an image today from a location scout with the caption “Nublar,” which as we all know is the name of the island from the first Jurassic Park.

Transformers 4 To Film in Texas

You can add Austin, Texas area to the list of locations that Transformers 4 will be shooting this summer. According to Dallas News (viaSeibertron), sometime in June the production will be in the small towns of Lockhart, Taylor, Elgin and Pfugnerville. In Taylor the plan is to close downtown and a railroad overpass with a car explosion set for Robinson Park. For Lockhart, the Caldwell County Courthouse will be used. The cities are part of a chase between the Autobots and Decepticons through Central Texas. Filming is expected to start in June (location unknown) with production hitting Detroit, Chicago, Hong Kong, and other unknown locations in China.

Speaking of Chicago, Bay was spotted scouting locations in the city on April 25th. Locations he and his crew checked out include LaSalle Street near Randolph Street up to the Board of Trade Building. Not sure what can gleam from that story wise but mostly reinforces that TF4 is coming soon to the area. Thanks to Wynton R. for the links.

Acting Search in China for TRANSFORMERS 4

Transformers 4 Chinese Actor Talent Search reality show to find 4 actors for the movie has started its casting process. The reality show is culling from 50,000 to 80,000 entries to find 2 professional and 2 amateur actors to play unspecified roles in the movie when filming starts sometime this summer in the country. The show is a result of a "cooperation agreement" between China and Paramount for unspecified financial, promotional and political assistance for the movie.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the paring down process will occur in several rounds. The first round will have the television station running the show pare down the contestants based on unknown criteria and putting their bio, photo and audition tape online. The top 400 chosen by Chinese citizens via online voting will move to the semi-final round where there will be additional auditions and testing (for what is not specified). Another round of online voting will move to the finalists round where 6 judges will continue to eliminate contestants until the final four actors are chosen. Basically its the American Idol model without the initial touring the country episodes.