Mira Sorvino, Elizabeth McGovern and Joseph Morgan are also in the movie, which is based on a novel by Leslie Schwartz.

The story follows a young father (Dekker) whose 3-year-old son freezes to death during a fishing trip. As a local prosecutor (Piven) goes after him, townspeople including his ex-wife (Collins) rage at him and others support him as he attempts to makes sense of what happened.

Catherine Trieschmann wrote the adaptation, which is being directed by Gaby Dellal. Tim Perell and Shirley Vercruysse of Process Film are producing the project.

“Entourage” star Piven also is lending his voice to the animated feature “Marmaduke.” Collins will shoot “John Carter of Mars” after wrapping “Waska.” She most recently co-starred in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Walsh stars on ABC’s “Private Practice” and will be seen on the big screen in the fantasy thriller “Legion” and the comedy “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

Sorvino recently wrapped the Russian-produced war drama “Leningrad” with Gabriel Byrne. Dekker is best known for starring as John Connor in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and next appears in “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Source: ABC News

The movie is a big step for Stanton, who as one of Pixar’s top creators directed the company’s animated films “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E” but will now helm his first live-action feature, and for Disney, which hopes the big-budget production will launch a franchise on the scale of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

“Carter” centers on a civil war who veteran finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where his involvement with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.

Kitsch will play the title character, Carter, while Collins is playing Dejah Thoris, the heir to the throne of Mars’ Helium kingdom.

Stanton wrote the screenplay with Mark Andrews. Jim Morris, who produced “WALL-E,” and Colin Wilson are producing “Carter,” which is eyeing a start in early 2010.

Brigham Taylor is overseeing for the studio.

The role of Carter was considered one of “the” gets for a young actor, and Disney has spent months meeting and testing a wide swath of names from Jon Hamm to Josh Duhamel during its search. Canadian-born Kitsch, repped by WME and Untitled, began building buzz when he began starring in NBC’s “Friday Night Lights.” Before long, he was considered as one of the town’s next generation of leading men, especially when he booked the role of Gambit in “Wolverine.”

Collins, repped by WME and 3 Arts, a recurring gig on HBO’s “True Blood” but appeared with Kitsch in “Wolverine,” which raised her profile considerably.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

We’re not big fans of the idea of using Twitter as a journalistic tool, but it’s hard to ignore when an actress like Lynn Collins, last seen as Silverfox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, “tweets” something like:

“celebrating john carter of mars!!!!!!!”

Sure, she could be celebrating having finally gotten around to reading Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic series of fantasy/sci-fi novels about a Civil War vet from Virginia who ends up transplanted on Mars, where he has all sorts of adventures. We think she’s talking about being cast in John Carter of Mars, the live-action movie based on those novels that’s long been in development at Disney that will be helmed by Andrew Stanton, the Oscar-winning director of Pixar Animation’s WALL•E and Finding Nemo from an adapted script by Michael Chabon (Spider-Man 2, “The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay”). It will be the first live-action movie directed by the Pixar vet, as well as the first live-action movie produced in conjunction with Pixar Animation.

Right now, it’s just speculation, but if Collins’ excited “tweet” proves this casting to be true then she could be playing Martian princess Dejah Thoris, the titular “A Princess of Mars” from Burroughs’ first novel, which came out in 1911.

In related news, The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Disney•Pixar is scheduled to start shooting the film in November and will shoot in Utah for 45 days. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Disney and Pixar, makers of classic animated movies such as “Toy Story” and the recent hit “Up,” are expected to partly film the pulp science-fiction adventure “John Carter of Mars” in Utah from November to July 2010.

Portions of the Beehive State will double as Mars, including Lake Powell (where the original “Planet of the Apes” was partially filmed), Moab, and Kane and Wayne counties.

In exchange for filming here, the production will receive a tax credit through the state’s film incentive program. On Thursday, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development board approved an application for the credit submitted by the movie’s production company.

“It’s the biggest movie we’ve ever used incentives on,” said Utah Film Commission executive director Marshall Moore. “We haven’t seen these kinds of numbers since doing a TV series for a year.”

The San Rafael Swell already doubled as the planet Vulcan in this year’s summer blockbuster “Star Trek,” but second-unit crews only shot for four days in Utah.

A release date has not yet been set for the sci-fi action-adventure.

Summer has officially begun — at least in Hollywood — so expect a giant event film every weekend. Wolverine may have bowed mightily but with Star Trek hot on its heels next weekend, the Marvel superhero is going to need more than adamantium to maintain its box office lead.

Source: EW.com

“When I got the job, within 72 hours, I was on a cliff in my underwear kissing Hugh Jackman in New Zealand. I had no time to prepare,” Collins says during an interview at the 20th Century Fox lot.

The Texas native was already nervous about being cast in the biggest movie of her career – she is the only major female character in the film. She’s appeared in an assortment of television and film roles – from “True Blood” and “The Lake House” – but nothing compared to the kind of notice she’s going to get from “Wolverine.” She felt like she was representing the entire female audience.

All that pressure looked like it was about to overflow when early in the filming Jackman told her there was a problem with the early footage: Her outfits weren’t skimpy enough.

That made sense. Collins’ character is supposed to be alluring enough to win the heart of Wolverine.

“So, I was like, ‘(expletive deleted). OK. Whatever.’ He was like, ‘So, we found something for you. We put it in your trailer. Can you please try it on?’” Collins says.

She went to her trailer and found a tiny silver Spandex dress – which she describes by forming a box with her hands. The dress was so tiny it didn’t cover everything that needed to be covered. Collins had a panic attack.

Finally, after some clever adjustments of the material, she emerged from her trailer.

“I opened the door and everybody was cracking up. Hugh said, ‘April Fool’s,’” Collins says. “I finally decided it was OK because I didn’t have to wear the green-and-black outfits Kayla Silverfox has had to wear in some of the comics.”

Collins’ familiarity with the character doesn’t come from growing up as a comic reader. Friends have filled her in on the character’s legend.

Collins spent her youth living in both Houston and Singapore because of her father’s work in the oil business.

She always wanted to be an actress. The dark-haired beauty had to fend off efforts by her mother to go into the beauty pageant world so she could follow an acting career path.

“I went to a private school in Singapore and they had an incredible arts program,” Collins says. “Every day I was doing something artistic. When I got back to Texas I began to get involved in drama competitions.”

That start taught her a lot about acting. It didn’t prepare her for what to do when a film’s star and producer suggests a piece of wardrobe better suited for a Barbie doll.

Jackman praises her for how she handled the practical joke and the role.

“I love that you put it on and didn’t slap me in the face,” Jackman says to Collins. “Lynn plays a character, and fulfills a role, that was so vital to this movie. She did an amazing job. I was really proud of what she did.”

Source: MiamiHerald.com

Maybe this only applies in Hollywood, but there seems to be no better résumé builders these days than (1) getting killed by vampires and (2) performing paranormal feats in spandex onesies. Lynn Collins, 29, has recently mastered both skill sets—the former in season one of HBO’s Golden Globe-winning True Blood, and the latter in this month’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. “Everything’s all about superpowers and sucking blood,” she says. Meaning, she’s found the only recession-proof gig in America. In Origins, a Wolverine bio-pic akin to Walk the Line for mutants with indestructible Adamantium skeletons, Collins plays Silver Fox, the title character’s love interest. She’s also the token woman in a very male cast. “I had to play off all the guys and their testosterone-heavy abilities,” she says. “But I learned that the female powers of persuasion easily trump fangs and knives and guns.” Perhaps they can also be used to wean Hugh Jackman off show tunes.