Carey Mulligan as Hillary Clinton, James Franco, more casting news

MULLIGAN CLINTON — Photo: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images; Virginia Sherwood/AP

• A handful of American actresses have been rumored to be in consideration for the role of Hillary Rodham Clinton in upcoming biopic Rodham — Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Chastain, Reese Witherspoon, Amanda Seyfried, and Emma Stone, most prominently. But now a front-runner has emerged: British actress Carey Mulligan, who most recently starred as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Mulligan hasn’t officially announced her candidacy for the role of the former first lady, New York senator, and secretary of state, but THR reports that the 28-year-old actress will soon meet with director James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) about the project. Rodham will focus on the early years of Clinton’s career, including meeting future president Bill Clinton and her position as a lawyer on the committee involved in Richard Nixon’s impeachment. [THR]

• Emmy Rossum (The Phantom of the Opera) and Justin Long (He’s Just Not That Into You) will star in a romantic comedy called Comet, written and directed by newcomer Sam Esmail. Deadline describes the setting of this rom-com as “a parallel universe,” though there are no details yet about what that universe is like. Esmail says of the film, “Comet is about the drama, comedy and utterly surreal state of heartbreak — a subject in which I am well versed.” [Deadline]

• Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) recently booked two new roles. He’ll share the screen with fellow Oscar-winner Sean Penn (Mystic River) in action movie The Gunman, an adaptation of 1981 novel The Prone Gunman. Bardem will also star in A Most Violent Year the next film from J.C. Chandor (Margin Call). Despite the title that evokes Bardem’s characters in films like No Country and Skyfall, he will play the good guy in this movie. [Deadline]

• Beloved children’s novella The Little Prince (or Le Petit Prince, in its original French) has lined up some voice actors for its upcoming animation adaptation. James Franco (127 Hours), Rachel McAdams (The Notebook), Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski), Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), and French actress Marion Cotillard (Inception) have signed onto the film. Bridges will voice the pilot the little prince meets when he arrives on Earth. It has not yet been revealed whom the other actors will voice. At the helm of the project is Mark Osborne, who directed Kung Fu Panda. [THR]