Ray Liotta will join the cast of A Place Beyond the Pines!

Via The Playlist:

If you weren’t already pumped for “A Place Beyond the Pines,” director Derek Cianfrance‘s follow-up to “Blue Valentine,” you’d better be now. Variety reports that Ray Liotta, one of the most manic and entertaining actors working today, will be joining ‘Pines’ which already includes “Blue Valentine” star Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Greta Gerwig. Cianfrance, who co-wrote the film with Ben Coccio, has compared the tone of the film to “The Godfather” and “The Deer Hunter” (Holy crap!). Sidney Kimmel, Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell and Alex Orlovsky are on board as producers.

Liotta will play a corrupt police officer in what the director has called a “generational crime flick.” The story focuses on a professional motorcycle rider (Gosling) who turns to to robbing banks in order to support his newborn son. Things go wrong when he crosses the path of a police officer-turned-politician (Cooper). Cianfrance has said of the project, “I have a film called ‘The Place Beyond The Pines,’ which is all about fathers and guns, and it has motorcycles and guns in it.” We’re definitely interested! Mendes will play the mother of Gosling’s son and Gerwig is slotted as Cooper’s wife. It was announced last week that “Animal Kingdom” actor Ben Mendelsohn will play Robin Van Der Zee, the mechanic who turns Gosling’s character onto the life of crime.

Liotta will appear next year in Andrew Dominik‘s “Cogan’s Trade” opposite Brad Pitt. Over the course of 25 years, Liotta has played a cop in no less than a dozen films, so the role will no doubt be familiar to him. Hopefully, ‘Pines’ will take him down the path of his portrayals in films like “Narc” or “Cop Land,” and less so than “Youth in Revolt” or “Date Night.” Filming is expected to begin on July 25th.

-Joey's Two Cents: This just keeps getting better and better...thoughts?

Derek Cianfrance continues casting his follow-up to Blue Valentine...

...by casting some female leads to go along with his previously announced male ones. Here's the story from Deadline:

va Mendes is set and Greta Gerwig is in talks to star alongside Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper in The Place Beyond The Pines, a multi-generational crime drama that Blue Valentine's Derek Cianfrance will direct for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. The drama tracks the tragic consequences of a showdown between a motorcycle rider-turned-bank robber (Gosling) and a cop-turned-politician (Cooper). Mendes will play the robber's love interest and mother of his child, and Gerwig is in talks to play the politician's wife.The film begins production next month. Mendes most recently starred in Last Night and The Other Guys while Gerwig starred in Arthur and Greenberg and has just begun shooting Lola Versus, the Daryl Wein-directed Fox Searchlight comedy that also stars The Killing's Joel Kinnaman.

Kimmel, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky and Jamie Patricof will produce. SKE's Jim Tauber and Matt Berenson will be exec producers. Howell, Orlovsky and Patricof teamed on Blue Valentine. Cianfrance wrote The Place Beyond the Pines with Ben Coccio. Sierra/Affinity's Nick Meyer is selling foreign.

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm glad to see Gerwig getting higher profile roles...thoughts?

Who might co-star with Ryan Gosling in Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to Blue Valentine?

Via Variety:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment has come on to finance and produce multi-generational crime drama "The Place Beyond the Pines."

Project's been in development since last year, with "Blue Valentine" writer-director Derek Cianfrance directing from a script he co-wrote with Ben Coccio. Ryan Gosling is attached to star, and producers have offered Bradley Cooper a starring role.

Gosling will portray a pro motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son, when he crosses paths with a rookie police officer -- the role Cooper is being lined up to play -- their confrontation spirals into a generational feud.

Project is being sold at Cannes with Sierra?/?Affinity handling foreign sales. CAA and WME Global packaged and will handle domestic sales.

Principal photography will start this summer.

Sidney Kimmel, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky and Jamie Patricof will produce. Howell, Orlovsky and Patricof also produced "Blue Valentine," in which Gosling starred.SKE prexy Jim Tauber and SKE Production president Matt Berenson will exec produce.

-Joey's Two Cents: Seems like Bradley Cooper is everywhere these days...thoughts?