First and foremost, we love Sean Bean here at The Flickcast. He’s a great actor who, unfortunately, doesn’t always seem to make it all the way through most of the projects he appears in.

That unfortunate reality seems to be about to change as Bean has been cast in not one, but three movies based on the Devil’s Peak novel trilogy. The novels, written by South African Deon Meyer, focus on Benny Griessel, a detective with Cape Town’s Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.

Bean will play Griessel in the adaptations, who’s a recovering alcoholic with family issues and other demons who also happens to be very good at catching murderers. Sounds like a role tailor made for Bean — not that he’s got issues or is a recovering alcoholic, just that we see him able to pull it off. Anyway. . .

A September start date for the first film is planned, with shooting to take place in South Africa. We will be following this one closely.

When Steve Jobs passed last year there seemed to be a big push to commit his life story to film. Job’s story is incredibly interesting, and he eventually was a key contributor in many cultural milestones.

Variety is reporting that the independent production, Jobs, has landed its lead:

The King of Twitter is now the King of Apple, as “Two and a Half Men” star Ashton Kutcher is attached to play Steve Jobs in the indie pic “Jobs,” which Joshua Michael Stern (“Swing Vote”) will direct from a script by Matt Whiteley… The film will chronicle Steve Jobs from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of our time.

At first glance Kutcher seems an odd choice to play one of the most beloved CEOs of our time, but when you really think about it could be an inspired choice. Kutcher has a pretty obnoxious personality, but he is a capable actor who certainly looks the part.

Jobs is only one of several Steve Jobs related projects that are trying to see the light of day, so snagging a big name actor to star is a good first step in making the independent production relevant against other larger profile competition.

The young career of Chloe Moretz has been stellar. Every project she has taken has been interesting and varied, and at the young age of fifteen she already has shown more range than a few of her Oscar winning elders.

So when Deadline reports she is joining the cast as the lead in an all new adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie you know there is a good chance the movie is going to be good.

She’s expected to play the shy high school student Carrie White, who is raised by a nightmarish religious fanatic mother, and comes to grip with devastating telepathic powers just as she reaches puberty. She eventually uses those gifts for lethal means when fellow classmates use the prom as an excuse to humiliate her before the entire school in a parable about bullying.

We have already seen young Ms. Moretz dazzle in a moody horror role, but to take on the lead in Carrie can take her to the next level. Another interesting angle on this story is that Chloe is currently a little younger than a typical high school senior would be.

Usually these sorts of roles are filled with 20 somethings, so perhaps the younger looking Moretz will have an even larger visual difference between her classmates to punctuate her outsider, lonely demeanor.

The seventh season of the revamped run of Doctor Who will unfortunately be the last for the Ponds. Amy and Rory have been with the Doctor since the beginning of the fifth season, and have been by Matt Smith’s side during his entire run.

So with that info common knowledge, show runner Steven Moffat took to twitter to reveal their choice for the Doctor’s next companion:

We saw a lot of brilliant actresses. But Jenna was the only person going faster than Matt – he had to keep up!

That Jenna of which he speaks is Jenna-Louise Coleman, the stunner on the right. She will be introduced in this year’s Christmas special and finish off the seventh season run in early 2013.

Being the companion during the Doctor’s 5oth anniversary year is a fantastic opportunity for the young actress. The show has retained a high level of popularity over the past seven years and looks to boom in 2013.

In other Doctor Who twitter related news, Moffat did also confirm that this upcoming season will indeed split at the half way point like last year. However, with the split coming around Christmas it will likely only face a small holiday hiatus. Nothing near as excruciating as the summer brake in 2011.

Look for new Doctor Who on BBC America this fall.

Woody Allen is a talented writer, director and actor. He is generally very funny, and often provides a very unique perspective that feels familiar but is undeniably his own. Now he will finally achieve the final peg for total life victory, he will play John Turturro’s pimp.

Turturro’s next project as a writer and director is Fading Gigolo, and he has been able to pull in a very impressive cast.

Variety is reporting Allen will co-star in the film with Turturro with Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara likely to sign on in supporting roles.

Turturro and Allen [play] cash-strapped best friends who decide to go into the gigolo business together and subsequently attract the suspicion of the Hasidic Jewish community in which they live. Duo take on the pseudonyms Virgil and Bongo, with Allen pimping out Turturro’s character until he falls for a Jewish widow.

The movie sounds incredibly interesting, and pulling in Woody Allen just as an actor likely speaks volumes about script.

This will be Allen’s first project since winning this year’s Academy Award for best screenplay, for his film Midnight in Paris. Turturro has recently been seen fighting giant robots in a certain loud and explodey trilogy, so this next picture is an interesting change of pace for the both of them.

In case you were not aware, there is a brilliant modernization of Sherlock Holmes on TV right now. Sherlock, the BBC series, tells the tale of the titular detective in a modern London, complete with text messaging, internet teleconferencing and Watson’s blog!

CBS, excited by the prospect of the most famous detective’s ability to work in a modern setting, has set forth on their own take on a 21st century Holmes, and they just nabbed their Watson.

According to Deadline the role of Sherlock’s faithful aide is being filled by a rather surprising choice:

Lucy Liu is set to play Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick in CBS’ drama pilot Elementary, whose tweaks to Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic include switching Watson’s gender to female. The project, written by Robert Doherty, is set in present day and stars Jonny Lee Miller as eccentric Brit Sherlock Holmes, a former consultant to Scotland Yard whose addiction problems led him to a rehab center in New York City.

On one hand, the concept of Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu running around New York as Holmes and Watson actually sounds crazy enough to work. On the other hand, we might be reaching a point of Sherlock Holmes overload, with a TV show and movie series already very much alive.

We at The Flickcast have our fingers crossed that this adaptation goes just bug nutty enough to work along side Sherlock, not against it.

Moneyball was a great film and it was very interesting to watch Jonah Hill stand toe to toe with Brad Pitt and deliver Aaron Sorkin dramatic dialogue like a pro. So the news that he has signed on to a new dramatic feature is exciting.

Deadline is reporting that Jonah Hill will be joining forces with James Franco, himself another actor fully capable in drama or comedy, for the upcoming film True Story. A film about a New York Times journalist who’s identity had been stolen by a wanted murder while on the run from authorities.

Like Moneyball, this is another opportunity for Hill to veer from his comic persona. He will play Finkel, who was a writer at The New York Times Magazine in 2002 when he learned that Christian Longo was captured in Mexico after a long stint on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List for killing his family. The strange part was that he had been living under the identity of Finkel.

The very next day, the real Finkel was fired by the editors of The Times, right after they ran an editor’s note declaring that he had falsified parts of an investigative article. His career seemed over, until Longo (who’ll be played by Franco) declared that the real Finkel was the only journalist he would talk to. 

Sounds very interesting, hopefully we are just getting to meet a whole new side to Jonah Hill.

Steven Moffat is one of the best television minds working today. He is in charge of two of the most interesting, well written and generally fun shows on television, Doctor Who and Sherlock, and he might fancy bringing a bit of both together.

The Express is reporting that Cumberbatch is the desired choice to play the most recent incarnation of The Master, a renegade Time Lord who often butts heads with the good Doctor:

“It’s fitting that the Doctor comes face to face with his ultimate enemy, The Master, for the 50th anniversary and it’s felt Benedict is the perfect choice if schedules can work… Fans will love the idea of the man who plays Sherlock Holmes taking on the Doctor’’

This year Cumberbatch was in two highly regarded films stateside, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and War Horse, and the next year and a half will see him in at least two major blockbusters, Star Trek 2 and The Hobbit. So there is genuine concern about his upcoming availability for a multiple episode or even season long arc on the show.

The 50th anniversary year of the longest running sci-fi show in history is expected to be huge. No doubt bringing back the Master is only the tip of the iceberg of plans the Grand Moff and BBC have in store for us in 2013.

I can’t think of another character, except perhaps the enigmatic Michonne, that has fans speculating more as to who would play them in the The Walking Dead TV series than The Governor. He singlehandedly encapsulates all that’s evil about the new world Rick and his companions find themselves in after the dead begin to rise.

And now, we know what actor will be taking on that coveted role. He is British thespian David Morrissey and he will join the show as a new series regular for season 3.

In case you’re not familiar with the character, he’s the leader of Woodbury, a small settlement of survivors, who becomes the chief antagonist for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group. Of course, that doesn’t really do him justice.

Let’s just say he’s a bad man. A very, very, bad man. Now that we know Morrissey will play him, what do we think of this casting choice? At first glance, I’m not convinced. However, I’m willing to give the actor a chance to prove himself worthy.

What say you Walking Dead fans?

I’m always excited for NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up, but lately something is missing. While Parks and Recreation has become one of the funniest shows on television, The Office just isn’t what it used to be, 30 Rock is winding down, and Community is on “hiatus” with no return date in sight.

However, the Community cast and crew is still hard at work filming. Joining the lineup of the already all-star cast and guest stars is Giancarlo Esposito, known best for his spectacular performance as Gus in AMC’s Breaking Bad.

In Community, Esposito will guest star as Gilbert, a long-time employee of Pierce’s deceased and super racist father Cornelius Hawthorne. Not much more is known except that Gilbert has some news concerning Pierce’s inhertiance, which should be sure to cause some hilarious hijynxs for our favorite students at Greendale Community College. Esposito is an amazing actor but we’ve only really seen him as super serious Gus, so it’ll be interesting to see him take on a more comedic role.

So far, there’s no concrete details on if, or when Community will return to NBC. And while it’s awesome that remaining epsiodes are still being shot and could just end up straight to DVD, I hope the show comes back on the air. In the meantime, we’ll just have to make do with little tidbits of news like this, as well as the rest of the Thursday night lineup, which is still pretty funny.

Chuck is back! Well, actually, it’s not really Chuck, sorry. It’s actually the actor who played him, Zachary Levi.

Sorry fans, Levi won’t be back as your favorite reluctant spy. Unless, of course, they decide to do a Chuck movie. Fingers crossed on that one.

Until then, the much sought-after actor has jumped into a new pilot for Fox called Let It Go. The script was written by DJ Nash who will be executive producing with Peter Tolan and Michael Wimer.

Levi will play the male lead of the ensamble comedy which concerns a married man (Levi) and his wife, his best friend and her sister “as they try to navigate, negotiate and sometimes manipulate society’s unspoken rules.” Hmm, sounds good. After all, “unspoken rules” are the most fun to break, right?

No word yet on other casting for the pilot and when or if it will be picked up as a series. However, as we’re big fans of Mr. Levi around here (and writer DJ Nash, who’s a talented so and so), you can bet we’ll be keeping tabs on this one.

The second stretch of filming for the two-part Hobbit adaptation is set to begin later this month. Even though there has already been over one hundred days of shooting, the final roles are still being cast for parts in the later portions of movie two.

Deadline is reporting that the great Billy Connolly has been cast as Dain Ironfoot, the leader of a fierce band of Dwarf warriors and cousin to Thorin Oakenshield:

We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!

It is hard to call this perfect casting before we see Connolly in action, but if it is possible we here at The Flickcast are somehow now even more excited for the final Hobbit film. The next two years are going to be very big for Billy Connolly who has yet to really break out here in the states.

Aside from his role in 2013′s Hobbit finale he will also be providing a pivotal voice in the next Pixar film, Brave.