Willem Dafoe and Rob Kazinsky head to the Pacific Rim; Robert Patrick replaces Bryan Cranston in Gangster Squad

July 29th 2011, 6:27am

Got a couple of quick casting notes to toss your way this morning. First up, Guillermo del Toro’s monsters vs. robots extravaganza PACIFIC RIM is in the process of adding two more to its ranks.

According to Variety, actor Rob Kazinsky (RED TAILS, “EastEnders”) has been confirmed to take on the role of a member of the team tasked with defeating the film’s giant beasts. Meanwhile, the always wonderful Willem Dafoe (JOHN CARTER) is said to be in talks to play “a rogue scientist” with expert knowledge of the oceanic threat. If “rogue scientist” is anything like “mad scientist”, then Dafoe will be perfect.

The film, from a script by Travis Beacham (CLASH OF THE TITANS), takes place in the alternate future of 2025 where huge beasts have begun emerging from a portal found somewhere deep within the Pacific Ocean. To fight the threat, teams of pilots are trained to operate giant mechanized suits of armor outfitted with high-tech weaponry. Seriously, release some concept art RIGHT NOW, Guillermo! Por favor!

PACIFIC RIM – starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, and Max Martini – is expected to begin production this fall.

Back now to our regular non-monster-filled earth, Variety is reporting a small casting shake-up with Ruben Fleischer’s police period drama GANGSTER SQUAD. “Breaking Bad” actor Bryan Cranston, originally up for the part of a “a laconic LAPD officer from Texas who enforces the law ambitiously” has dropped out (due to a scheduling conflict with Ben Affleck’s ARGO) and been replaced by former T-1000 Robert Patrick. Yay or nay to that decision?

GANGSTER SQUAD, based on Paul Lieberman’s seven-part LA Times series Tales From the Gangster Squad, chronicles the LAPD’s struggle with increasing crime and corruption in the 1940s by forming an elite police task force to keep East Coast organized crime figures out of Los Angeles. The film stars Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, Holt McCallany, Giovanni Ribisi, and the recently added Emma Stone.