Arnold Schwarzenegger gets gritty in 'Ten.' Plus: 'Maleficent' fills out its cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage.com

Arnold Schwarzenegger continues his streak of gritty action films, signing on to star in the thriller Ten, Open Road Films announced today. David Ayer (Street Kings, End of Watch) will direct the script bySkip Woods (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, A Good Day to Die Hard), which follows a team of crooked DEA agents who start getting mysteriously executed after a dirty drug raid. Schwarzenegger’s role in the film is unclear, but we’re guessing it’s light on introspective soliloquies.

• Disney’s Maleficent is filling out its cast around Angelina Jolie‘s title sorceress: Harry Potter alums Imelda Staunton and Miranda Richardson, Another Year‘s Lesley Manville, Control‘s Sam Riley, Made in Dagenham‘s Kenneth Cranham, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager‘s India Eisley (as a younger version of Jolie’s Maleficent) are joining Elle Fanning and Sharlto Copley in the live-action fairy tale, to be helmed by first-time feature director Robert Stromberg. [THR, Variety]

Brendan Gleeson and Abbie Cornish will star in An Ordinary Man, a drama about a war criminal on the run and his maid. Brad Silberling (Moonlight Mile) will direct. [Deadline]

Juliette Lewis has signed onto The Days of Mary, a remake of the Oscar-winning Federico Fellini film Nights of Cabiria. Producer Brad Michael Gilbert (The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond) will direct the English-language adaptation, which he scripted with Meg McGarry. [Variety]

Rory Culkin (Scream 4) and Matt Czuchry (CBS’s The Good Wife) will costar in Gabriel, an indie drama about a mentally ill teenager (Culkin) and his older brother (Czuchry). First time feature director Lou Howe will helm the project from his script. [Variety]

• And finally, some non-casting casting news: Jessica Chastain (The Help) announced on her Facebook page that she won’t be starring in Iron Man 3. “My schedule is jammed packed and I can’t fit anything else in,” she wrote. “The press announced my possible attachment far too soon. I know many of you wanted me to be involved, and I’m so sorry to disappoint you. Hopefully there’ll be another Marvel film in my future.” Public service announcement: This is a good reminder that any time you read someone is “attached to” or “in talks for” or “negotiating for” or “eyeing” or “circling” a project — here or anywhere else — it may be a far cry from that actor having signed a contract to take on the role. [Facebook]

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