EXCLUSIVE: Aussie actor Luke Bracey is joining the cast of Relativity’s Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Best Of Me. The actor, who played Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, joins a cast that includes James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, and Liana Liberato. Marsden came aboard last month replacing the late Paul Walker in the role of Dawson opposite Monaghan as Amanda, two former high school sweethearts who return home for a friend’s funeral and reignite their past romance only to discover that what drove them apart years ago could pose even more serious threats now. Bracey will play the younger Dawson opposite previously cast Liana Liberato as the younger Amanda. The Relativity release is the latest Sparks adaptation at the studio which also brought the author’s Dear John and Safe Haven to the big screen. The Best of Me is directed by Michael Hoffman from a script by J. Mills Goodloe rewritten by Hoffman and Will Fetters (The Lucky One). Denise DiNovi, Nicholas Sparks, Theresa Park and Alison Greenspan are producing alongside Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh. Tucker Tooley is exec producer. Bracey is repped by CAA, ROAR and Mark Morrissey & Associates. He next appears in Roger Donaldson’s November Man.
EXCLUSIVE: Sanaa Lathan is going to space with indie Ad Inexplorata, from writer-director Mark Elijah Rosenberg and Beasts of the Southern Wild producers Josh Penn and Matt Parker. Low Winter Sun‘s Mark Strong is set to play a NASA pilot on a solo mission to Mars. Lathan will play Captain Emily Maddox, a captain on one of four ships making the trek to the Red Planet. Pic was developed in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Lathan is coming off the hit sequel The Best Man Holiday. Lathan voiced Donna on Fox’s animated The Cleveland Show. She’s repped by ICM Partners and John Carrabino Management.