Casting Net: Aaron Taylor-Johnson joins 'Avengers' sequel

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who starred as the title character in Kick-Ass, is set to join The Avengers: Age of Ultron where he’ll play the part of Quicksilver — twin to the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and son of Magneto. According to the report, the British actor had to figure out his publicity duties for the new Godzilla (which also stars Olsen) prior to committing to the sequel, which reunites Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Renner. The Joss Whedon-directed sequel to 2012’s hugely successful The Avengers is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2015. Taylor-Johnson also starred alongside Keira Knightley as Vronsky in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina and is married to Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is directing Fifty Shades of Grey. [The Wrap]

• Richard Gere is reportedly being courted to star in the sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Director John Madden hopes the 64-year-old Arbitrage star might join original cast members Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith in the follow-up when it begins shooting next year. [Deadline]

• Dustin Hoffman will play a Choir Master in Boychoir about a pre-teen from a rough area who joins a school choir and finds himself. Alfred Molina and Kathy Bates also star in key roles. The Red Violin’s Francois Girard will direct the pic from Ben Ripley’s (Source Code) script. [Deadline]

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones) is set to star in the Danish film A Second Chance for director Susanne Bier. There’s no log line for the film yet, but the drama deals with tragedy and justice. [Deadline]

• John Cusack (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook),Ryan Phillippe (The Lincoln Lawyer), and Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria in Twilight) have all joined director Alan White’s suspense pic Reclaim, about a couple who goes to Puerto Rico to adopt a 7-year-old orphan who is then abducted. [Deadline]

• Forrest Whitaker (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) and Mackenzie Foy (Twilight: Breaking Dawn) will voice the lead roles in the English-language version of Ernest & Celine, an animated French film about a bear and a mouse. [The Wrap]

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