racebending.com

Whitewashing in "Bitten"

evewithanapple — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:04:14 GMT

The first book of Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series ws optioned to become a TV show last year, and production just started yesterday. In the books, the character of Jeremy is described as dark-haired with "tilted eyes." In another book in the series, it's revealed that his mother (who he was taken away from as a baby) is Japanese.

This is Greg Bryk, the actor playing Jeremy in the show.

This is the press release with the casting announcement.

skizzylizard — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:24:29 GMT

Pulitzer Winner Bruce Norris Retracts Rights to German Troupe's Clybourne Park Over "Blackface" Casting

Bruce Norris, whose play Clybourne Park features white and African-American characters — to Pulitzer Prize-honored, Tony Award-winning effect — stripped a German theatre company of rights to his drama when he learned that a white actress would be using makeup to play a black woman.

In an Oct. 16 letter to his colleagues at the Dramatists Guild (made public on the DG website), Norris wrote that after he learned that Deutsches Theatre in Berlin was going to produce his hit play about race and real estate, he reached out to the director "so that we could discuss the play and the intended production," and after not hearing back, "some time later I received a disturbing email from an actress named Lara-Sophie Milagro (who happens to be black, and whom I much enjoyed in the [2011 Staatstheatre] Mainz production of Clybourne), informing me of the fact that the actress who had been cast in the same role at the theatre in Berlin, was white."

He continued, "Disbelievingly, I contacted my agent who put me in touch with the management of Deutsches Theatre. Yes, they confirmed, it is true, we have cast a white ensemble member in this role, and we see no logical reason why we should cast an 'Afro-German.' (If you are familiar with my play at all, the reasons are self-evident.) After much evasion, justification and rationalizing of their reasons, they finally informed me that the color of the actress's skin would ultimately be irrelevant, since they intended to 'experiment with makeup.' At this point, I retracted the rights to the production."

The wide, popular use of blackface fell out of favor in the U.S. by the mid-20th century, with the rise of the Civil Rights movement and social and cultural enlightenment, though it is sometimes used on American stages today for ironic, satiric, historical or thematic effect (as in the Broadway musicals The Scottsboro Boys or The Wild Party). The practice remains in use abroad. A recent production of Herb Gardner's I'm Not Rappaport at Schlosspark Theatre in Berlin featured a white actor in blackface playing Midge, an African-American character. (Read about a petition decrying the German practice here.)

In his open letter to DG, Norris added, "As it turns out, blackface has been and continues to be a widespread practice on the German stage. German actors of African descent are routinely passed over for roles explicitly designated for them in some of the largest theatres in the country. This is weakly defended as either a director's prerogative or a matter of 'artistic choice' — and yet, when questioned, no one could offer me an equivalent example of a white German actor having lost a role to a black actor in whiteface."

Norris has asked his fellow dramatists "to boycott productions of your own work by German theatres that continue this asinine tradition (The Deutsches Theatre and the Schlosspark are only two examples). A zero-tolerance position is the only position to take, in my opinion, and if we are united then perhaps a few German theatres may take notice and, hopefully, in time, a better course of action."

A Dramatists Guild statement accompanying Norris' letter and a link to petitions reads, "While we do not, as a general matter, allow members to use the Guild's communications network to advocate for their particular views, we are making this statement and petition available to the membership because it relates directly to an author's right of casting approval, which is a critical right reserved to authors and one at the heart of the Guild's purpose in advocating for authorial ownership and control of their work."

Licensing agents for plays and musicals occasionally hear from amateur companies requesting to cast white actors in blackface or makeup, citing lack of available multicultural performers. Those requests are usually denied.

For example, Music Theatre International sends out this statement to troupes producing the multiracial musical Hairspray: "The use of make-up to portray black characters in your production (e.g., blackface) is not permitted under your License Agreement. As per your License Agreement, you agree that such use of make-up is strictly prohibited.

"If your production of Hairspray features actors who are portraying characters whose race may be other than their own, you may elect to include the below letter from the creators of Hairspray in your program. You are not permitted to edit this letter in any way (including U.S. English spelling)."

That accompanying letter from writers Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Thomas Meehan, Mark O'Donnell and John Waters reads:

"Dear Audience Members,

"When we, the creators of Hairspray, first started licensing the show to high-schools and community theatres, we were asked by some about using make-up in order for non-African Americans to portray the black characters in the show.

"Although we comprehend that not every community around the globe has the perfectly balanced make-up (pardon the pun) of ethnicity to cast Hairspray as written, we had to, of course, forbid any use of the coloring of anyone's face (even if done respectfully and subtly) for it is still, at the end of the day, a form of blackface, which is a chapter in the story of race in America that our show is obviously against.

"Yet, we also realized, to deny an actor the chance to play a role due to the color of his or her skin would be its own form of racism, albeit a 'politically correct' one.

"And so, if the production of Hairspray you are about to see tonight features folks whose skin color doesn't match the characters (not unlike how Edna has been traditionally played by a man), we ask that you use the timeless theatrical concept of 'suspension of disbelief' and allow yourself to witness the story and not the racial background (or gender) of the actors. Our show is, after all, about not judging books by their covers! If the direction and the actors are good (and they had better be!) you will still get the message loud and clear. And hopefully have a great time receiving it!"

skizzylizard — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:30:20 GMT

The Orphan of Zhao: Royal Shakespeare Company casts Asians as dogs and maid in Chinese classic

The news that the revered Royal Shakespeare Company has not only given a measly three out of 17 roles in their production of the Chinese classic, The Orphan of Zhao, to Asian actors, but that these parts are for two dogs and a maid, has quite gasted my flabber. None of the main roles are played by Asians.

We've been rowing about this for months alongside Anglo-Chinese actor and Equity BAME representative Daniel York who is leading the charge. [Edit: Daniel says the third out of three demon dogs is a black actor while all the main roles are white. WTF with the non-white non-human depictions?] His attempts to elicit a grown-up response from the RSC and the Arts Council have so far resulted in a condescending brush-off and a reprimand from the powers-that-be.

Yes, cross-racial casting is a wonderful idea— the problem is that it's all one-way traffic. What happened to diversity? Note the use of a Chinese kid in their promo material. If they actually had the courage of their questionable conviction, they'd surely have illustrated their wares with one of their leading actors. Instead, they lack the smarts to understand why courting Chinese audiences is going down like a cup of cold sick. They want our money but not us, and certainly not our involvement as equals in this Vale of Tears.

It's a shame that writer James Fenton, who has an impressive track-record as a progressive, has allowed the casting of his adaptation to be done along such colonialist lines. I always thought he was an anti-imperialist and all that entails.

I doubt we'd see the pillars of the culture pulling these stunts with the African-Caribbean or south Asian communities because they know they'd be exposed as something akin to white supremacists perpetuating dominance of the culture instead of using public funds to advance our consciousness beyond its current sorry state and represent everyone fairly.

Lucy Sheen, British Chinese actress and associate director of True Heart Theatre, writes:

At the end of the month The RSC will be staging an adaptation of The Orphan of Zhao.

This is a Chinese classic from the Yuan period thought to have been penned by the 13th century writer Ji Junxiang (紀君祥). Not much known about Ji Junxiang. He was born in present day Beijing and wrote six plays. Only one of his works has survived and that is Yuanbao yuan Zhao shi gu'er - The (great) Revenge of the orphan Zhao ca. 1330 (趙氏孤兒大報仇). This was the first zaju, (Chinese: “mixed drama or play”) to have been translated into the western tongue.

This was one of the major Chinese dramatic forms. Originating as a short variety play from Northern China during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and during the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368) it developed into a mature four-act dramatic form, in which songs alternate with dialogue.

The fact that the RSC are producing such a work should for the BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic) community cause for celebration - so why are not more of us hip, hip hooraying?

Company
Matthew Aubrey - Ti Miming
Adam Burton - The Assassin
Joe Dixon - Tu'an Gu
Jake Fairbrother - Cheng Bo
Lloyd Hutchinson - Han Jue
Youssef Kerkour - Captain of the Guard
Chris Lew Kum Hoi - Ghost of Dr Cheng's Son/Demon Mastiff
Siu Hun Li - Demon Mastiff/Guard
Patrick Romer - Gongsun
James Tucker - Zhao Dun
Graham Turner - Dr Cheng
Stephen Ventura - Emperor Ling
Philip Whitchurch - Wei Jang
Lucy Briggs-Owen - The Princess
Nia Gwynne - Dr Cheng's Wife
Susan Momoko Hingley - Princess' Maid
Joan Iyiola - Demon Mastiff

Out of a cast size of 17 only 3 BEA (British East Asian) have been cast. The three actors that have been cast in the production should be exceedingly proud of their achievement.
But only 3 out of a potential 17!. There are approximately 75 BEA actors and 82 BEA actress all of varying experience, training and expertise. You cannot tell me that from this pool the RSC could not have found at least two major male and female roles for the production?
If this was an adaptation of Liongo I doubt very much whether the Black Afro-Caribbean acting community would idly stand by as the major or pivotal roles were taken by Caucasian actors. I doubt very much whether the RSC when casting such a venture would ever dream of not casting black actors in such a production. So when then should we be any different? Why are the British-Chinese/East Asian not afford the same cultural, ethnic and racial considerations as our fellow Black Afro-Carribean and South Asian colleagues?
Are we so little thought of us? Are we that invisible and inconsequential to the society and the country of which we are citizens?
Yet our culture, our writing our art take pride of place in institutions around the UK. It is almost Pythonesque ...
And what have the Chinese ever given us in return?
Row -planting
Oh yeah, yeah they gave us that. Yeah. That's true.
And The Compass
Oh yes... the compass, Reg, you remember what navigating around used to be like.
All right, I'll grant you that Row -planting and the compass are two things that the Chinese have done...
And the seed drill...
(sharply) Well yes obviously the seed drill... the compass go without saying. But apart from the row-planting, the compass and the seed drill...
Iron Ploughs, Ships rudder
Harness for horses, Gunpowder, Porcelain, Toilet paper, Print - moveable type

'“To right an injustice, no sacrifice is too great.” While this concept doesn’t quite sit right with our modern sensibilities, it’s the underlying theme of the Chinese play “The Orphan of Zhao” ( 赵氏孤儿), the origins of which can be traced back to 600-500 B.C.'

Jim Sturgess is an epic jackass.

idyllictorture — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 05:30:19 GMT

Mike Le wrote a great article about it here.

There's really no defending this guy. But I'm sure some will try.

"Cloud Atlas" film's got some yellowface goin' on.

mrcab — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:43:47 GMT

Maybe someone can help me with this one bcz I might have entirely gotten things wrong. So I'm watching this trailer for an upcoming Tom Hanks / Halle Berry movie and I see something really strange. No, not Hanks' facial hair; Jim Sturgess in Yellowface[starts at 1:53]:

[Link to page with video]

That is Jim Sturgess, right? Anyways, here's the directors explaining the film, in which they comment that the actors are to play multiples rolls: different ages, different races, and different genders[starts at 1:05]:

[link to video]

I don't get it. Even if people are perfectly "cool" about this, how can you look at that guy's face and think he looks perfectly normal? Oh, wow, and it's Jim Sturgess from 21. How odd is that?

*edit*
Apparently the two actors play different roles in another part of the film, and from this image it looks like the actress, Doona Bae, is playing a white lady?

Please help Readercon expand its invitation list!

rosefox — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:12:01 GMT

Hi all,

I hope this post is appropriate here; if not, please let me know and I'll take it down.

I'm a longtime follower and occasional commenter in this community. I'm also the program chair for Readercon, a speculative literature convention that takes place in the Boston, Mass. area every July. Participation in our program--that is, speaking on panels, giving talks, and doing readings--is by invitation, and while our invitation list includes some fabulous people of color (including past guests of honor Samuel R. Delany and Nalo Hopkinson), I'm looking for ways to diversify it further. I hope you can help by recommending amazing people you'd like to see on our program!

Readercon is very focused on the written word, so I'm primarily looking for authors, editors, publishers, critics, and academics who are well-versed in written science fiction, fantasy, and horror. That said, we do have occasional items on related media, including cover art and illustrations, movies, and television. You can get a sense of who usually comes to Readercon by looking at this year's guest list.

I would greatly appreciate recommendations of people of color (and other members of disprivileged groups within fandom) who you think would have a good time at Readercon and enjoy contributing to our conversations. Please comment on this post or write to program@readercon.org anytime between now and December with your suggestions. (You can put yourself forward too.) The people you recommend don't need to be famous; they just need to be inquisitive, opinionated, and passionate about speculative literature and related fields. This link lays out exactly what we're looking for in a recommendation. If you have contact info, great! If not, send suggestions anyway and we'll find ways to contact them.

Feel free to pass this link around to anyone who might be interested, post it on mailing lists, etc.

Thanks very, very much!

Cheers,
Rose

So, Joss Whedon is a privileged dick. Must be Tuesday.

idyllictorture — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:00:03 GMT

Racebending.com's Mike Le asked Joss Whedon about the lack of Asians in Firefly. This was the response:

Le also wrote a great essay explaining the situation: Frustrations of an Asian American Whedonite

Source

Sleeping Dogs Video Game - Voice cast announcment video

mikinia — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 01:28:58 GMT

Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/07/17/sleeping-dogs-has-a-star-studded-cast-of-actors-lending-their-voices/

I've been watching the development of this game for a while, being FROM Hong Kong, and I am relieved to say that the majority of the cast is Asian American or Asian, and anyone who isn't Asian is playing a character from their respective nationality, for example: Tom Wilkinson as Police Inspector Pendrew, a character that's probably from the UK.

I am personally cautiously optimistic about how my home is represented in this game, but I will hold back final thoughts untill the game is actually out .Still, it looks good so far!

Ben Kingsley to play Mandarin in Iron Man 3, Whitewashed?

crazymongomofo — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 01:24:37 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/apr/10/ben-kingsley-iron-man-villain

http://www.metro.co.uk/film/900807-ben-kingsleys-character-in-iron-man-3-revealed-as-the-mandarin

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ben-kingsley-iron-man-3-robert-downey-jr-jon-favreau-309693

It looks like the upcoming Iron Man movie seems to have gotten a little more than an off footing and sidetracking with its casting.

I am fully aware like others who follow the comic book, that the Mandarin, Tony Stark/Iron Man's arch nemesis, is a Eurasian character (According to the sources: The Mandarin's late father was a wealthy Chinese merchant in pre-revolutionary China and has Mongol ancestry going back to Genghis Khan, while his late mother was an English noblewoman.)

But his cultural background and the setting of his story in the comics is firmly Chinese through and through.
The Mandarin, usually has his stories taking place there, his plans, schemes and machinations often entail themes and subjects dealing with Chinese mythology, he sometimes works in collaboration with the Chinese Government to implement his plans for world domination and so on. As much of a stereotypical throwback to Fu-Manchu as he is, that is his ethnic background.

And nothing could be further from that cultural background and backdrop than Kingsley (a British Indian actor). As good as Kingsley is, this is still tantamount to a whitewashed role and it would have deemed more appropriate for a Chinese actor, whether a Chinese or a Western Chinese actor to get the role.

I don't see how even an actor like Tzi Ma (who has been crucially involved in the Racebending protests, and also often been typecasted rather unfortunately in many villanous roles in Hollywood movies) could not have gotten it as someone like him would have been more appropriate for the role.

NB: It's too bad John Lone, of the Year of the Dragon, The Last Emperor and Rush Hour 2 fame, was already cast in a role very similar to that of the Mandarin (in the early 90s fiasco of a superhero movie, The Shadow), otherwise he is what I would have imagined Mandarin to be in my imagination of a live-film adaptation of the character.

Snow Crash Possibly Entering Production

hoyvinglavin64 — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 03:05:45 GMT

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/56412

So Joe Cornish, director of the excellent Attack the Block, is directing the adaptation of Neil Stephenson's classic cyberpunk novel. On the other hand, the producer, Kathleen Kennedy, was one of the people backing The Last Airbender. Will Hiro Protagonist, the biracial lead character, end up whitewashed due to producer pressure, or will they be willing to stick to the book?

Casting for New Star Trek Movie

hoyvinglavin64 — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:52:04 GMT

http://badassdigest.com/2012/04/30/reports-confirm-star-trek-2-has-the-safest-possible-villain/

So Bennedict Cumberbatch is playing Khan? Strange. Love Cumberbatch but why's he playing an Indian guy (yes, same can be asked about Ricardo Malteban, but you'd think they'd want to cast better than the old show, not worse)? The Star Trek movies are one of the only major series in Hollywood any racial diversity at all, so whitewashing this role confuses me.

Ted Talks

calcifermagnet — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:47:21 GMT

"TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader."

I love TED talks. Speakers have a time limit so they have to get right to the point of their speech. I don't agree with all of them. But I they have helped me grow as a person.

These are two of my favorites, that I pull out to explain racism to people who don't understand, they changed me and they change the people I share them with:
Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story
TEDxHampshireCollege - Jay Smooth - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race

TED has long had a problem with recruiting women speakers. They recently authorized an independently organized TEDxWomen spinoff to speak specifically about women's issues around the world. The TEDx videos are posted on youtube. And they are under attack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxkxcsrveLw&feature=g-u-u&context=G224bf27FUAAAAAAAAAA

This is a Nobel Peace Prize winner speaking about her efforts to help women in her own country. And it's bombarded with trolls claiming that it's sexist because women initiate 90% of divorces (Who knows which country he's referring too - but this is a video about Africa! What does divorce rates in the Western world have to do with Africa?).

While this is pretty obvious trolling, it's pretty heavy trolling. Each time TED uploads a video with a woman speaker, it's immediately getting 100 down votes. Many subscribers don't watch the videos if they are heavily down voted. So these videos are getting less views, and women's voices are being silenced.

I know this is a bit off topic for Racebending, but, if you are interested in TedTalks and have a youtube channel, would you subscribe? Ignore the trolls - but like the videos under attack and up vote the useful comments.

I don't want users being pushed away from such an amazing and inspiring speeches as TedxTalks provides because of trolls.

Kung Fu movie: Caine has to be "Chinese-something"

zosianolastname — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:44:43 GMT

One of Bill Paxton's upcoming projects is a Kung Fu movie (based on the Carradine series), per this source.

Considering that the tv show is a notorious example of whitewashing, this is something to keep an eye on. However, Paxton's remarks in the linked article are somewhat promising:

To take that a step further, I think the character of Caine, whoever this actor this is, and we're going to have to do a big search, he has to be Chinese-something... Chinese-Irish, Chinese-Israeli, Chinese-American, Chinese-Canadian... He's probably going to have to be a pretty skilled martial artist.

Of course, this is still all very preliminary, but hopefully this comment pans out.

Korra Premieres on April 14

dkwrkm — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:36:35 GMT

Courtesy of Market Watch:

The Legend of Korra, in which the mythology of the beloved animated franchise from Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko continues. The series centers around a new Avatar named Korra, a 17-year-old headstrong and rebellious girl who continually challenges and bucks tradition on her quest to become a fully realized Avatar in a world where benders are under attack. The half-hour series will debut on Saturday, April 14, at 11:00 a.m. (all times ET/PT), as part of Nickelodeon's Saturday morning block (8AM-Noon), which has been the number-one destination for Kids 2-11 for 12 consecutive years and currently delivers more than three million total viewers each week. The Legend of Korra will air regularly on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

HIP HIP HOORAY

Tite Kubo's BLEACH has been picked up by Warner Bros.

neurotic_rat — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:30:25 GMT

Worst nightmare has come true it seems...

Just a heads up, because I just found out about this today:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-02-22/warner-develops-live-action-film-of-tite-kubo-bleach-manga

After Akira failed to get people, it looks like Warner Bros. is aiming at Shonen Jump's popular flagship titles to make a movie out of it.
I see Masi Oka in there, though like the other anime-Hollywood adaptions, I'm not giving much hope that they will do this justice.

Casting for The Great Wall

schweinsty — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 05:04:00 GMT

I came across an article yesterday, on comingsoon.net, about a new movie - The Great Wall, - which "looks at the mystery behind how China's Great Wall was constructed from a story conceived by Legendary Pictures chairman Thomas Tull and Max Brooks."

Exciting, yes? A great opportunity for Chinese actors?

In negotiations to star is Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill. Now I'm not saying this will necessarily be a racist movie where the Mighty Whitey helps the natives build something beyond their architectural/scientific comprehension, given the scarcity of information and how it's still in pre-production, but this casting, imho, does not bode well, and it looks like something to keep an eye on, y/y?

Read more: Superman Star Henry Cavill to Build The Great Wall - ComingSoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86864#ixzz1m1ech1kx

Racebending Mentioned on CNN Blog

hoyvinglavin64 — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:05:41 GMT

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/13/is-hollywood-whitewashing-asian-roles/

Good article, with quotes from the Racebending website and from spokesperson Michael Le (try to ignore the comments, though, as usual).

Racebending in 'Big Miracle'?

bosswolf — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:10:49 GMT

Perpetual lurker, first-time poster, delurking for hopes for more info on the new film 'Big Miracle'. Saw a commercial for it earlier today, and as 'based on a true story' always sends my alarms ringing, I wiki'd it. It appears that the cast is predominantly white, but the only individual mentioned on the page for 'Operation Breakthrough' (the 'true story') is an Inupiaq Inuit named Roy Ahmaogak. In fact, the Wikipedia page really emphasises that the local community was Inuit and they're the ones who got the whole thing rolling. So now I'm really giving the film a side-eye, and wanted to know: does anyone know anything more?

Wikipedia links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Miracle and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Breakthrough

Early Review of Gene Yang's "The Promise" Part 1

jedifreac — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:29:45 GMT

Hi guys. Racebending.com was sent an early review copy of "The Promise." We put up our review, which you can read here.

I also included some of the history behind how Gene Yang got the job. Did you know that he came to the attention of the publishers when they saw his comics protesting the whitewashing of "The Last Airbender" movie?

There are minor spoilers based on the preview pages and the back cover, but I'd be happy to answer more spoiler questions in the comments here if anyone has questions.

streetrat — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:35:19 GMT

GUYS. YOU GUYS.

'Akira' Production Offices Shut Down As Warner Bros. Scrutinizes Budget

And let's hope it STAYS DEAD.

Live-action "Rurouni Kenshin" coming to theaters next summer.

full_metal_ox — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:47:12 GMT

Dear Hollywood: Screw whitewashed cyberpunks with inexplicably Japanese names in "New Manhattan"--this is the kind of big-screen adaptation American anime fans would like to see, thank you very much.

More details on the production here.

(Thanks to dungeonwriter for the heads-up.)

Indians on TV (article)

sirius_k — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:46:09 GMT

About a year old, an interesting (if not tabloid-y) article about Indians on TV, in big main and recurring roles. I thought it was interesting, and got me thinking about how trends like this can grow. What do people think about this recent character writing and casting trend, and how does it factor into the effort to get Asians in a similar position?

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2010/06/beyond_apu.html

Akira Story Changes

mericachan — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:13:04 GMT

According the Fandango, the casting call to Akira reveals the synopsis which goes as follows.

"Kaneda is a bar owner in Neo-Manhattan who is stunned when his brother Tetsuo, is abducted by government agents led by The Colonel. Desperate to get his brother back, Kaneda agrees to join with Ky Reed and her underground movement who are intent on revealing to the world what truly happened to New York City thirty years ago when it was destroyed. Kaneda believes their theories to be ludicrous but after finding his brother again, is shocked when he displays telekinetic powers."

Link

In other news I heard from a article that Helena Bonham-Carter is not sure about joining the cast.

Disney Open Casting Call Scheduled for 'Lone Ranger' (Paid Extras)

lightbird777 — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:05:40 GMT

Came across this casting call today and figured I'd post for discussion.

The Walt Disney Pictures feature film "Lone Ranger" is holding an open casting call in Albuquerque, New Mexico on December 11, 2011 for people interested in working as paid extras. The film's remaining supporting roles are still being cast in Los Angeles, and smaller speaking roles, extras, stand-ins, and photo-doubles for the film's stars are being cast in New Mexico. Shooting will take place in New Mexico from February 13, 2012 through July 14, 2012.

More at the source. The link with the details re the casting call for paid extras is here. From the link:

The extras casting director is seeking the following types:

Males with no facial hair
Males with lots of facial hair
Females of all sizes with long hair
Native Americans
Asians
Horseback Riders

As far as main roles other than Depp and Hammer the only other confirmed casting is Timothy Hutton, Ruth Wilson and James P. Bennett.

birdbrainblue — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:13:49 GMT

Earlier today, I read an article on Comics Alliance about a new fairy tale parody comic called Princeless. The story features a princess named Adrienne who goes on a quest to rescue her sisters, who's a smart, funny heroine that stands out as a well-written character.

Oh, and she's black.

And this happens.

Check out the article here!
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/11/30/princeless/