I have a trio of casting news for you today, and first up is Toni Collette, who, according to THR, has been cast in XXX 3: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE, joining Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Jaa, Jet Li, Orange Is the New Black's Ruby Rose, The Vampire Diaries' Nina Dobrev and Bollywood star Deepika Padukone.
The United States of Tara and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE actress will play "a bureaucrat in the intelligence service," and while little is known about the story of the threequel, insiders say "it involves two teams of badasses that go head-to-head." Filming will begin in a few weeks with D.J. Caruso (DISTURBIA, EAGLE EYE) behind the camera, and he'll be directing from a script by F. Scott Frazier. It's also been rumored that Ice Cube will reprise his XXX: STATE OF THE UNION role in next installment of the franchise.
Variety, meanwhile, is reporting that Mad Men and THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. actor Jared Harris will star opposite Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in Robert Zemeckis' next directorial effort. The script for the 1942-set romance spy thriller comes from LOCKE writer and director Steven Knight, and will follow "a spy (Pitt) who falls in love and marries a French agent (Cotillard) during a dangerous North African mission." Production is scheduled to start next week in Europe, and the site claims that the currently untitled film is expected to open on November 23, 2016.
And finally, Deadline has learned that Clive Owen has been cast in ANON, "a psychological thriller with sci-fi elements" from GATTACA and GOOD KILL director Andrew Niccol. Owen will star as a detective in the movie, which is set in "a world with no privacy, ignorance and anonymity. It is the end of crime. However, when Owen’s character stumbles on a young woman who doesn’t exist, he discovers it may not be the end of crime but the beginning." An announcement on which actress will play the young woman will likely be made within in the coming weeks.