Role Call: Police, Producers, and Pesky “Cursed Child” Rumors!

by · January 21, 2017

This week, we take a look at what’s coming for a number of Potter cast members and producers; plus, we address that pesky Cursed Child rumor!

Despite his Dublin roots and resistance to moving to the US, Brendan Gleeson is set to live in the US this year, at least for part of 2017. The actor, who portrayed Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody/Barty Crouch Jr. as “Mad-Eye” in the Potter films, has signed on for a ten-part series based on the Bill Hodges trilogy penned by famed author Stephen King. Mr. Mercedes is set to film this year and debut sometime in 2018, with Gleeson set to play the lead role of Bill Hodges. Here’s a synopsis of the trilogy from Amazon:

The stolen Mercedes emerges from the pre-dawn fog and plows through a crowd of men and women on line for a job fair in a distressed American city. Then the lone driver backs up, charges again, and speeds off, leaving eight dead and more wounded. The case goes unsolved and ex-cop Bill Hodges is out of hope when he gets a letter from a man who loved the feel of death under the Mercedes’s wheels… Brady Hartsfield wants that rush again, but this time he’s going big, with an attack that would take down thousands—unless Hodges and two new unusual allies he picks up along the way can throw a wrench in Hartsfield’s diabolical plans.

Says Gleeson of his upcoming temporary location,

I’m just going to try and embrace my departure from Dublin for five months. The lads have moved out so it’s a good time to go. It’ll be a bit of a challenge.

He can be seen next alongside Ben Affleck in Live By Night.

Chris Columbus has teamed with his daughter, Eleanor Columbus, who portrayed Susan Bones in the Potter series, on a new project! The two have produced a number of films under their company, Maiden Voyage Pictures, since 2011. The new Yiddish-language film, Menashe, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week as part of NEXT. Take a look at the plot below:

‘Menashe’ is set in Brooklyn and centers on a kind, Hasidic Jewish widower (Menashe Lustig) as he struggles to make ends meet and responsibly parent his young son, Rieven. Tradition prohibits Menashe from raising his son alone, so Rieven’s strict uncle adopts him, leaving Menashe heartbroken. Meanwhile, though Menashe seems to bungle every challenge in his path, his rabbi grants him one special week with Rieven before to his late wife’s memorial, and a chance to prove himself a suitable man of faith and fatherhood.

Speaking of producers, David Heyman is rumored to be taking over Attack on Titan, a remake of the Japanese manga films that aired in Japan in 2015. It appears that Warner Bros. is currently negotiating for rights, so we’ll let you know when and if the news is confirmed. Here’s the synopsis:

The story follows humans living behind a wall through generations to keep themselves safe from the alien Titans. However, curious as to what is beyond the wall, they form a scouting mission. It is not long before they find themselves battling the Titans as they try to save humanity once again.

We reported recently that Mad To Be Normal, starring David Tennant (Barty Crouch Jr.) and Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), would be premiering at the closing gala of the Glasgow Film Festival on February 26. A description of the plot was provided in the festival’s brochure:

‘Mad To Be Normal’ offers a powerful account of Laing’s Kingsley Hall experiment with a stunning performance from David Tennant that truly gets under the skin of an utterly compelling figure. Tennant’s nuanced, complex work conveys a sense of Laing’s immense personal charm and the combination of intelligence and arrogance that made him equally revered and reviled. The film also captures the darker side of a mercurial man who rarely made it easy for those who dared to get close to him, especially his lover Angie (Elisabeth Moss).

Unfortunately, tickets to the premiere sold out quickly, so if you wanted to attend, it appears that you’re out of luck. However, as of this week, we have our first glimpse of the film from the festival’s clip reel, which you can see here:

 

 

Finally, we want to put a particularly exciting rumor to rest. Circulating across the globe is a rumor that has the Potter fandom all aflutter. This week, a number of media outlets announced that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was going to be released as a film trilogy, starring the original Potter trio, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley). Fans appropriately started to freak out, but the queen of the wizarding world quickly took to Twitter to put the rumors to rest.

 

 

While the source of the rumor, Jim Hill, responded (also via Twitter) to her denial, he holds fast to what he was told from a supposed source at Warner Bros.

 

 

So there you have it, folks. The queen has spoken, and until she decides otherwise, there will be no Cursed Child film trilogy!

That wraps our weekly Casting News here at MuggleNet. Let us know what you think about all the latest news and project rumors by leaving us some comments! We love hearing thoughts from our readers on what the cast have been doing after Potter!