When it was announced earlier this month that Ed Helms was joining the cast of Stretch, the new action comedy from Joe Carnahan, the director promised that The Office star wouldn't be the last major to the cast. Taking to his Twitter account, he posted a photo of himself, Helms, Patrick Wilson and Chris Pine and a message promising more to come.
We're not 100% sure that this is what he was referring to, but it's still news nonetheless.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Brooklyn Decker has signed on as the first female cast member of Stretch. The plot is said to center on an ordinary, down on his luck guy (Wilson) who takes a job chauffeuring a mysterious billionaire in order to pay off a massive debt. But as the night progresses things get worse and worse as the billionaire leads the protagonist through a night of hell. Strangely, THR's report says that Pine will be playing the billionaire in the movie, even though earlier reports said that role belonged to Helms. The trade doesn't say who Decker's character is or how she fits into the plot. Reading Carnahan's Tweet above it's hard to know if he means that there will be another big male actor joining the cast or simply another performer, possibly referring to the model-turned-actress.
Decker, who got her first big screen role in the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston comedy Just Go With It, has kept busy since, performing in both films and on television. Last year she had parts in both Battleship and What To Expect When You're Expecting as well as a recurring role on The League. She most recently appeared on an episode of the Zooey Deschanel series New Girl.
In the same story it's also revealed that Universal has officially placed Stretch on their upcoming slate, dating it for release on March 21, 2014 - a seriously odd choice. While that month is a crowded field overall, Carnahan's movie will be going head-to-head with both the young adult novel adaptation Divergent as well as Muppets Most Wanted (it's surprising enough that those two movies shared a release date, even before a third movie entered the field. As if that weren't enough, it will be surrounded by anticipated titles like Need For Speed, starring Aaron Paul, and Darren Aronofsky's Noah. Then again, THR does point out that the movie is being made for very little money, meaning that it won't take much for it to be able to turn a profit. Still, why not head for less competitive waters?
Jason Blum, who has become well known in Hollywood for producing projects on extremely low budgets, is backing the project. Given the release date, production will likely begin very soon.
