Girlfriends and wives usually get the short shrift in music biopics. In most cases, they end up as background (with maybe the exception being Walk the Line). Hopefully, this will not be the case for Gabrielle Union's latest role. BlackFilm reports that Union has signed to star in Darnell Martin's music biopic Cadillac Records as Geneva Wade. Wade was blues legend Muddy Waters' long-time girlfriend and was the inspiration for the classic song, Little Geneva.

Cadillac is the story of Chess Records, founded by Leonard Chess. The famed label was responsible for launching the careers of some of the greatest names in R&B. Casting has been the order of the day since news first hit that Adrien Brody would be playing Chess. Since then, it's been a flood of news, with the debate over Beyonce being cast as jazz legend Etta James at the top of the list. It should probably not come as a shock that other casting news has garnered fewer headlines. So just to bring you up to speed: Jeffrey Wright signed to play the great Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer will appear as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, and Columbus Short as Little Walter. There is also my favorite piece of casting -- Mos Def as Chuck Berry. Because, frankly, Def is just 'eccentric' enough to pull it off.

The bunny is almost here, giving me a reason to overindulge in hardboiled eggs, but right now, it's still the work week, and here are some casting nibblets from Variety:

• Chinese singer and actress Josie Ho has nabbed herself her Hollywood debut in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Unfortunately, although production has begun in Thailand, there is no word on who she's playing. (She also discusses her casting on her blog, but doesn't mention her role.) You might have caught the actress in Johnny To's Exiled back in 2006, or more recently, as Sina in last year's drama, The Drummer. She's also one of the top 20 Most Intriguing Heiresses, being the daughter of Stanley Ho and all.
• Emily Rios wowed audiences with Quiñceanera back in 2006 (Kim had reviewed it from Sundance). After a handful of roles since, she's picked up a gig in the upcoming Helen Mirren-starring prostitution story, Love Ranch. She will, of course, play a young call girl in the film. Other than casting announcements, not much is coming from set. However, in a discussion over at IMDb, they've linked to Bai Ling's blog, where she posts self portraits of her character.
  
• Lastly, we've got a little testosterone to throw into the mix. Norman Reedus, who recently played detective Norman Reilly in American Gangster, is about to get musical. He's joined the cast of the Adrien Brody-starring Cadillac Records. Will he be a music great, or just some passerby? Hopefully we'll see who is filling the roles of the other classic musicians soon.

Due to my appreciation of Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright, I've really been trying to get behind the idea of Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, so that I can fully appreciate everything Cadillac Records can offer. So far, it's not happening, and with the first look at Beyonce's Etta, courtesy of Just Jared, I'm really not convinced. You can check out the full picture, plus a peek at a blue-suited Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess over at the site, and above I have given you a side-by-side comparison.

Putting a blonde wig on Beyonce doesn't make her Etta. It makes her look like she's getting ready for Halloween. They just don't look alike. They look different. They have different body types. And they certainly don't sound alike. It just looks like a caricature, which is really a shame, considering the solid cast along for the ride. And heck, as JJ pointed out, Etta doesn't think so either, although she's remaining positive: "It's a privilege and an honor to have somebody like that girl. I don't think she looks like me, but that's all right. They can fix that up."

Etta is going to work with Beyonce on both the acting and singing, so hopefully the pointers can make this all come together.

With the spring start date moving ever-closer, we're continuing to get reports of who will play all the famous, epic music legends in the upcoming film, Cadillac Records. Just last week, I told you about the wonderful additions of Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters. Now it seems that we've got some estrogen to add to the mix. While talking with Cedric the Entertainer (who is also attached), BlackFilm.com found out that Beyonce has been cast as Etta James.

James had found some success with Johnny Otis and Little Richard before finding her way to Chess in 1960 -- a move that put her name on the map. After starting with blues, Chess saw a future for her in the pop world, which led her to her first pop-oriented hit, "At Last." (You know the one.. Listen to it here.) From there, she dipped into musical worlds from blues to rock. (Well, "rock" as it was years ago.) Now, she's one of the big names from her era, so the question is: Is Beyonce the right woman for the job? She's a solid singer, but from all I've heard, their voices are quite different, as are their looks. I just can't see a surprising Val Kilmer/Jim Morrison sort of morph happening -- both physically and aurally. Maybe Cedric is wrong. We'll have to wait and see, but in the meantime: What do you think?

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[via Empire]

Goodbye, Matt Dillon! Hellloooo Adrien Brody! I don't know what happened since October, when Matt Dillon was in final negotiations to star, but Cadillac Records has found itself a new leading man. Variety reports that The Pianist, Adrien Brody, has signed on to star along with Jeffrey Wright, the insanely wonderful actor from Basquiat, in the upcoming film. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind Matt Dillon, but this project just went from good to great in my books. Brody would've been enough, but with Wright? No one could keep me away.

Adrien has taken on the role of Leonard Chess, and Wright will be Muddy Waters in the feature, which starts filming in March. They will be joined by Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage), Cedric the Entertainer (Code Name: The Cleaner), and Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows). I'm neither here nor there on the supporting cast, but I'm sort of hoping Joe Morton pops up in a role. Should he, I think I will pass out from movie fan heaven. But anyway...

Coming from writer/director Darnell Martin, Cadillac Records dips into the Chicago music scene of the 1950s -- "charting the colorful lives of American musical legends like Waters, Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, and Elvis Presley." There's no word on who will play the rest of the greats yet, but we should find out soon, before production begins in New Jersey and Mississippi this spring.

Mozart. Loretta Lynn. Bobby Darin. Ray Charles. The list of musical biopics goes on and on, but they're usually about the voices, or fingers, that brought the music to life -- the faces on stage, not the faces behind the scenes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, we're about to dip behind the scenes for a biopic about Leonard Chess, the man behind Chess Records. The new project, Cadillac Records, was written by Darnell Martin, and she* will direct it as well. (She's the woman behind Prison Song, which she co-wrote with Q-Tip, and she also directed the real-time, eerie L-Word episode "Losing the Light.") To top that off, Matt Dillon is in final negotiations to star.

I can only hope that the film wrenches Dillon out of his cycle -- crappy flick after crappy flick, with a small handful of good stuff mixed in so that we don't completely write him off. Usually, a decent actor at least tries to balance the two, if not only go to the crap once in a while for a big paycheck. I mean heck, both Michael Caine and Peter O'Toole are unforgettable actors who have headed schlock -- but they've also had enough good roles to sustain them. But maybe Dillon's tide is finally turning.

Chess, born Lejzor Czyz (changed, I'm sure, to offer vowels to the consonantly-challenged), grew up in Poland before moving to Illinois in the twenties. A few decades later, he and his brother were into the black nightclub scene of Chicago. They soon joined Aristocrat Records, which they later renamed Chess Records when they took control and flooded it with notable talent. The label took on names like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Etta James. Production will begin this January in New Jersey and Chicago. Can you see Dillon as the man behind such R&B greats?

*Edited to correct sex. Thanks to reader Diana!