It looks like Brad Pitt will not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk in Steve McQueen’s next project Twelve Years a Slave. Pitt is producing the film through his production company, Plan B, and has reportedly worked on developing the project for a number of years, but now word is out that it won’t be just Pitt the producer showing up for filming, but also Pitt the actor. A small item in Screen Daily announcing the addition of River Road Entertainment as producers and financiers, along with the news that Summit International will handle sales of the film at the upcoming American Film Market, also included a cast listing for the project. That list included McQueen’s contestant star, Michael Fassbender, along with the already-announced Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Pitt himself. The Playlist went ahead and confirmed the casting with Plan B, who would only confirm that bit of news, but would give no further details. McQueen and John Ridley have adapted their script from the 1853 autobiography written by Solomon Northup, an African-American man who was born free and later abducted into slavery. Northup had an entire life in his native New York (complete with an education, a musical background, a wife, and three children) when he went to Washington in 1841 under the pretense of a job offer to play fiddle in a traveling circus. Once there, he was kidnapped and drugged. He was then sold into slavery and, for the next twelve years, was shuttled between owners and subjected to brutal [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Steve McQueen is a proven visual artist and up and coming film director who I’m keeping my eye on very closely. So far he’s made two very challenging, and very rewarding films. The first was called Hunger, and it was about the famous 1981 IRA hunger strikes in a Northern Ireland prison. The second is a forthcoming feature called Shame, and it’s a very frank look at the life of a man who suffers from sexual compulsion. Both films are visually beautiful, experimental in their approach to filmmaking, and starring Michael Fassbender. I would highly recommend checking them out. It’s already been reported that McQueen’s next film will be a telling of the life of Solomon Northrup called 12 Years a Slave, and that Chiwetel Ejiofor will be starring. Northrup was a free man kidnapped from Washington in 1841 and forced into slavery for twelve years until he was rescued from a Louisiana plantation in 1853. The film will be based off his biography of the same name. The new information being reported about the film is that Fassbender has signed on to the cast as well, re-teaming him with McQueen for the third time. There isn’t any word on who Fassbender will be playing, but that doesn’t really matter. Any word of Fassbender and McQueen working together is big news in my book, no matter what the project. While McQueen is one of the directors who I’m very excited to watch develop over the next few years, Fassbender is [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Visual artist turned visual artist who directs feature films Steve McQueen turned a lot of heads with his 2008 feature debut Hunger. It was a visual experience chock full of beautiful photography, great performances, and experimental filmmaking. His second film Shame, which stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, and supposedly explores sexuality and human nature, is getting ready to debut in Toronto and Venice come their September film festivals. Before we even get a chance to take in that film, however, comes word of what McQueen plans to work on next.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr sulks his head at not being able to see all the cool stuff that’s going on at Comic-Con 2010, but he knows he’s the lucky one because he was able to see Ramona and Beezus, Suck on that! Oh, and he gets a gander at Angelina Jolie in Salt, which ain’t bad, either.

Practical action from the man who brought us Patriot Games. The first trailer for Salt is surprisingly impressive.

Roland Emmerich’s last few adventure epics may not have gone over too well, but it’s easy to forget that the dude has made good films in the past. And with his next film, he is at least off to a good start with the casting.

The overall writing is fluent, and the performance by Ejiofor is near perfect. It doesn’t shatter the earth nor does it revolutionize the martial arts subgenre, but it is the work of a storyteller rather than the work of an action junkie director; and the end result is refreshing.