It would be an exciting week for casting even if the Cannes Film Festival weren't going on, but the glamorous event in France is bringing a ton of new casting deals as well. The lead for YA tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars cast its Augustus Waters, and Zac Efron just got a new speed-demon role. Click through to see these and the new jobs for everyone from Shia LaBeouf and Christoph Waltz to Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson.
Leonardo DiCaprio debuted Django Unchained in NYC last night. Leo was joined by his costars Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as director Quentin Tarantino, on the red carpet. Leo, who is currently filming The Wolf of Wall Street, also celebrated alongside pals Olivia Wilde, John Legend, Liv Tyler, and Cameron Diaz. Leo and Cameron have been seeing a lot of each other lately, as they were spotted celebrating for charity in NYC back in November.
Django's premiere came just ahead of today's SAG nominations. Despite all the award season buzz around the film, it received zero nominations. Nonetheless, early reviews for Django Unchained are excellent. Audiences will get to see Quentin's latest for themselves when it arrives in theaters on Christmas day, Dec. 25.
Jessica Biel donned a long Versace gown on the red carpet at last night's NYC premiere of Playing For Keeps. She posed for photos solo, as did her costars in the film Gerard Butler and Uma Thurman. Later, though, Jessica had the company of her husband, Justin Timberlake. Jess changed into a hot mint-green Nina Ricci dress to hit the afterparty at the Dream Downtown with JT on her arm.
Jessica and Justin have spent quite a bit of time in NYC since their Italian wedding back in October. She's done double promotional duty with two films out this season, Playing For Keeps and Hitchcock. In one interview, she opened up about the joys of life when you're married to a guy who can cook. Jessica Biel told Elle, "He bakes pies. He's Southern, so he's got all this influence from his grandma. He does a three-layer pie . . . and blueberry crunch cake, which is pretty unbelievable. It doesn't happen all that often, thank god. Otherwise, it would be a big problem."
Katy Perry and Selena Gomez put on their party finest for last night's UNICEF Snowflake Ball at Cipriani 42nd Street in NYC. The girls hit the blue carpet before heading inside for dinner and mingling. Katy wore a Naeem Khan caped ensemble, while Selena showed a bit of skin in Dolce & Gabbana. It was a colorful night for the female attendees — Kate Mara donned orange Jason Wu, Uma Thurman picked a dark blue Atelier Versace gown, and Girls star Allison Williams picked a mint green Naeem Khan ensemble. The night was about doing good, and quite a bit of charity took place. Selena tweeted, "So proud to be a part of UNICEF — we raised 2.5 million dollars tonight!"
Robert Pattinson attended Elle's Women in Hollywood last night as one of the few male attendees. He was on hand to honor his Bel Ami leading lady, Uma Thurman. Robert Pattinson sung Uma's praises in the role, saying their director sought "someone more intelligent, more charming, wittier and better in bed than me, which was obviously very difficult to cast." He also joked about being nervous, saying, "I'm learning how to read tonight. I find this terrifying." He didn't need to be worried, since plenty of ladies seemed happy to keep him company. In addition to chatting with Uma, Rob posed for photos with Jaime King and his Twilight pal Anna Kendrick. Rob's real-life leading lady, Kristen Stewart, skipped the event. Kristen and Rob have been hanging out, though, enjoying nights and afternoons out together around town.
The gray carpet at last night's Elle Women in Hollywood Awards was jam-packed with celebrities. Emma Stone wore a vibrant Valentino to mingle with her friend, and costar in The Help, Ahna O'Reilly. Nina Dobrev also went bold in blue Vera Wang, while Sarah Jessica Parker picked a more muted Calvin Klein. Emma Watson, also in Calvin Klein, went with black. Lea Michele likewise went dark, but her edgy Zimmermann look featured a sheer overlay atop a leotard. The ladies posed for photos before heading inside the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills to honor celebs like Cate Blanchett, Elle Fanning, Kristen Wiig, and more. Sarah Jessica and Emma were also among those who were feted by master of ceremonies Joel McHale.
Click through to see even more pictures of celebrities at the Elle party, including Busy Philipps, Uma Thurman, Cate Blanchett, and Susan Sarandon.
I'd love to tell you the full star-studded cast of Movie 43 but I'm afraid we'd be here all day. The trailer for off-the-wall comedy includes Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Chris Pratt, Chloe Moretz, Justin Long, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The film is a collection of 25 different stories, and as far as I can tell, the only common theme is stars behaving badly. Halle Berry blows out the candles on a blind kid's birthday cake, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber bully their teenager, and Gerard Butler is a leprechaun.
A handful of bloated comedies have proven that the megaensemble is a tricky beast, but this has me wondering if the formula might actually work this time. It could be amazing, or it could be an epic fail. The movie opens Jan. 25, and you can watch the NSFW red-band trailer after the jump.
Gerard Butler is quickly becoming the go-to sports guru of the movies. We recently saw him as a reluctant surf coach in the trailer for Chasing Mavericks, and now he's taking his skills to the soccer field — the peewee soccer field, that is. In Playing For Keeps, Butler is a retired soccer player sharing custody of his young son with his ex (Jessica Biel). Once legendary on the field, he's now reduced to shooting sports news auditions from his living room, in his underwear. He's taken up coaching his son's soccer team, and one of the soccer moms (Catherine Zeta-Jones) may have the hookup for a potential job at ESPN.
Full disclosure: I love hearing Butler speak with his native Scottish brogue. I haven't really been into him in romantic comedies, but this seems like it has a bit more heart to it than, say, The Bounty Hunter. The kid is also superadorable, and I'm curious about the romance story lines with Biel and Zeta-Jones. The movie doesn't open until Dec. 7, but you can check out the trailer when you read more.
Uma Thurman sipped on a cold drink on the deck of a yacht in St. Barts today. She kicked off another relaxing vacation day with a swim in the Caribbean Sea before lounging in a chair next to her mother, Nena von Schlebrugge. Uma and her family have been chartering the Metsuyan IV superyacht, which goes for about $120,000 per week, since last weekend, when she first showed off her baby bump in a striped suit. She's pregnant with her third child, her first with Arpad Busson, and has her two older kids, Maya and Levon, along for the getaway as well.
