Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has confirmed for SCI FI Wire that in the upcoming Shazam! movie, he's going to play the villainous Black Adam rather than the heroic Captain Marvel because that's what fans told him they wanted him to do. I had no idea you guys were so powerful. Can you please make sure there won't be a "Game Plan 2"? Please?.... Jennifer Connelly has signed on to star opposite Keanu Reeves in a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.... Jeanne Tripplehorn has landed the part of Jackie O in the Drew Barrymore/Jessica Lange adaptation of the docu-turned-Broadway hit Grey Gardens.... Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) and Will Patton (No Way Out) have been cast as the parents of Disturbia hottie Sarah Roemer in the thriller Waking Madison, about a nutjob who locks herself in her apartment for 30 days to cure her mental illness. Taryn Manning has also signed on to play a fellow loony. —Ben Katner
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Kevin Alejandro (Sleeper Cell) and Mircea Monroe have been cast opposite Nathan Fillion on Drive, Fox's mid-season drama series. Playing participants in an underground cross-country race, Alejandro and Monroe replace Andres Saenz-Hudson and Taryn Manning, though Manning is expected to stay with the series in a different role. Other roles, including the one filled in the original pilot by Alan Ruck, are also being recast. Poor Cameron.... Also per the Hollywood Reporter, junior middleweight champ Oscar De La Hoya will guest-star as a trash-talking doctor on ABC's George Lopez, which premieres its sixth season on Jan. 24.
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Per Variety, Marc Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a recent candidate to play Sam's new love interest on ER), Lynn Redgrave and Kathy Baker have joined the big-screen adaptation of The Jane Austen Book Club. Already on board are the likes of Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace and Jimmy Smits.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, Project Greenlight's Chris Moore is making his directing debut with Killers, a horror-action flick about a group of friends forced into a game where they have to snuff each other. Patrick Flueger (The 4400), Agnes Bruckner and Taryn Manning star.
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With her modest but pivotal role as Nola, pimp Terrence Howard's cornrowed pro in Hustle & Flow, Taryn Manning made folks sit up and notice. Now she's front and center in Oxygen's Banshee (premiering Saturday at 9:45 pm/ET), playing a tough-talkin' babe who steals cars with the greatest of ease. Alas, on one fateful night, she boosts the wrong ride, shifting into gear a deadly tale of revenge. TVGuide.com gave Manning a call — and caught this "tough gal" just as she was hollering down the hall to Mom.
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According to Variety, Allan Moyle will direct Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley and Taryn Manning in Weirdsville, a dark comedy about slackers who stumble across a satanic cult.... John Cusack will star in the indie drama Grace Is Gone, playing a father who embarks on a road trip with his two daughters after his wife is killed in the line of duty in Iraq.
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