Casting Notes: Amanda Seyfried In Andrew Niccol’s Sci-Fi ‘I’m.mortal’; Chris Pratt In ‘Moneyball’; Haley Joel Osment In ‘Sex Ed’
After his movieThe Crossseemed to fall apart, writer/directorAndrew Niccoldiverted to a slightly more mainstream sci-fi approach:he’ll directthe ‘action love story’I’m.mortal, which now hasAmanda Seyfriedset up to star. The film is about a society in which aging stops at the age of 25, which is as good an excuse as any to cast a lot of attractive 20-somethings. But because of the conceit behind the film, that’s actually forcing Niccol to find young actors who can play individuals who are a lot older than they look.
What’s the conceit? Variety explains a bit of the plot that we haven’t previously known: “InI’m.mortal, time has become the currency. Once you turn 25 and your aging gene turns off, you must buy and bank time. If you are rich enough, you’re able to live forever. But if you run out of time, you are engineered to die automatically. When a rebel from the ghetto is falsely accused of murdering a wealthy man for his time, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful, rich hostage (Seyfried). Together, this duo rages against the system, living minute to minute. They discover that love is more powerful than all the time in the world.”
After the break, moreMoneyballcasting and the return of Haley Joel Osment.
We just heard that Kathryn Morris would appear inMoneyball, which shoots next week in LA. (Finally!) NowChris PrattfromParks and Recreationis joining the cast; he’ll playScott Hatteberg, who in the mid to late ’90s was backup catcher for the Red Sox (behind Jason Varitek) before elbow surgery stalled his career. He was hired by Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) to play first base for the Oakland A’s. [THR]
Finally,Haley Joel Osment, who has been away from screens for a couple of years, returns in the comedySex Ed, to be directed by commercial and short filmmakerIsaac Federfrom a script byBilly Kennedy.THRsays Osment will play “a college graduate who dreams of teaching high school Algebra but due to budget restraints, ends up teaching sexual education, despite being a virgin. He discovers an unlikely mentor in a blues bar, a ruthless enemy in the local PTA, and a gorgeous Polish girl for whom English is a distant second language.”
How has no one ever made a comedy about a virgin teaching sex ed? That seems so obvious, now that the news is in front of us. (There is aFunny or Die sketchabout the concept, and there must be a film I’m simply forgetting at this point.)
