Jessica Chastain Attached to Star in ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’

The Insider – Movies/Cinema

Last year she was working on Zero Dark Thirty and now she’s ready to take on a different role.

Jessica Chastain is attached to star in The Zookeeper’s Wife, the adaptation of the novel by Diane Ackerman.

Niki Caro has come aboard to direct the World War II story, which Panorama is financing and producing. The project is expected to hit the market in Cannes, according to several sources.

Scion’s Jeff Abberley, Tollin Prods’ Mike Tollin and Kim Zubick, and Rowe/Miller’s Diane Miller-Levin and Robbie Rowe-Tollin are producing on the movie.

Wife is the true account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, who helped save hundreds during the Nazi invasion.

When the Nazi army overran Warsaw, destroying the city and its zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. The Zabinskis also took about a dozen Jews into their home.

While danger was always present, and her husband was part of the Polish resistance, Antonina Zabinski kept a mix of humans and surviving animals (lynxes and hyena pups, among them) humming in a one-of-a-kind community that included socializing and even the occasional piano concert.

Chastain is coming off Zero Dark Thirty, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, and the surprise hit horror movie Mama. She will shoot a starring turn in Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak in the first quarter of 2014.

Caro, whose credits include Whale Rider and North Country, last helmed 2009’s A Heavenly Vintage (aka The Vintner’s Luck).

Chastain is repped by CAA, Mosaic and Hansen Jacobson. Caro is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment and Lichter Grossman. Workman is repped by Gersh and Stankevich Gochman.

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For daily news, opinion and features on local, Canadian and international entertainment, sports and culture, follow me on Twitter @wesbutler11. Don’t forget to like the Reporter’s Chair on Facebook.

Kevin Conroy not returning for Arkham Origins

The Insider – Video Games

Veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy, the man responsible for providing the Batman’s gravelly tones in all way of media from the classic 90s animated series to the two Arkham games, will not be returning for Batman: Arkham Origins.

That’s according to the latest issue of NAG Magazine (via Arkhamverse), which reports that Warner Bros. Games Montreal has decided to enlist an unnamed voice actor to play the game’s younger version of the caped crusader.

Alongside providing Batman’s voice in multiple TV shows, Conroy has done a fair amount of video game work: in addition to Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, he’s also given the Dark Knight a voice in the likes of DC Universe Online and the recently released Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Batman: Arkham Origins is in development for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U with a targeted release date of October 25. A handheld companion game, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will also be available on this date on 3DS and PlayStation Vita.

What do you think? Are you perturbed to hear Conroy may not be returning, or is there someone else you think could fill the role? Let us know your nominees in the comments.

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For daily news, opinion and feature on local, Canadian and international entertainment, sports and culture, follow me on Twitter @wesbutler11. Don’t forget to like the Reporter’s Chair on Facebook.

Stephen King bestseller might become television series

The Insider – Television

It looks like Stephen King‘s 11/22/63 could be heading to television, with J.J. Abrams as the executive producer.

Abram’s Bad Robot production company and Warner Bros. TV are in talks to adapt Stephen King‘s 2011 time travel novel into a television series. The novel is about a teacher who travels back in time and tries to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

The protagonist travels back in time five years before Kennedy’s murder, where he adjusts to life in the past. He stalks Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald before the story gets to November 1963.

Another miniseries based on a Stephen King novel, Under the Dome makes its début on CBS.

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For daily news, opinion and features on local, Canadian and international entertainment, culture and sports, follow me on Twitter @wesbutler11. Don’t forget to like the Reporter’s Chair on Facebook.

The Osbourne’s are not divorcing

The Insider – Television and Music

It’s a classic case of don’t believe everything you read. Rumours were spreading continuously throughout the past week that Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne were living apart, seen in public apart and were planning on divorcing.

Luckily, Mrs. Osbourne has debunked all these supposed “rumours.”

“Everything that was printed in the tabloids has been distorted,” she said on The Talk on Tuesday. “There’s always a little seed of truth in everything that gets reported, but then it becomes very distorted.”

“We’re dealing with it. We’re not getting divorced,” she continued. “However, am I happy? No. Am I upset? Of course. I’m devastated right now.”

Osbourne went on to admit that she’s fully aware of Ozzy Osbourne‘s drinking problems, but she did not know the extent of it and that he had been also using prescription drugs.

“We’ve dealt with worse than this we will deal with it and this too shall pass,” she said. “Otherwise my husband will be taken to the hospital to have my foot removed from his a**.”

This should come as a form of relief for longtime supporters of the Osbourne family. After all, despite their many flaws, differences and brawls throughout the past thirty years, they have shown that they love each other very dearly.

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For daily news, opinion and features on Canadian and international entertainment, sports and gaming, follow me on Twitter @wesbutler11. Don’t forget to like The Reporter’s Chair on Facebook.