BIG 6: DON’T BE AFRAID’s Madison, Helen Mirren, Mermaids, more

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Meet Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark‘s young star, Bailee Madison

“Something my mom and I have always said to each other is: ‘We’re not here for interviews. We’re not here to get your picture taken,’ ” the soon-to-be sixth-grader said. “ ‘We’re here to make a difference, and this is our opportunity to.’ ” Read the full LAT article

Helen Mirren on The Debt, Getting Played by Jessica Chastain, and Everyone’s Ongoing Obsession With Her Body

First off, it was difficult for John Madden to quite find an actress who could be the young me. It’s hard enough finding one person who is right for a role, let alone finding two people! And then he found Jessica Chastain, who not only shares certain characteristics [with me] but who looks like me. Read the full NY Mag article

Mermaids: The New Life Aquatic

Building off the buzz from this year’s installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise—which featured a plethora of bad-ass, sailor-drowning mermaids played by models—mermaid-fueled projects are piling up. Twilight author Stefanie Meyer says her next book is all mermaid. Joe Wright, who directed Atonement, is planning a live-action, dark version of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid; Tobey Maguire is producing a rival, also dark, also live-actionLittle Mermaid.  Read the BW article

Telluride Film Festival: THR’s Film Critic Todd McCarthy On Why Secret Lineup Works

One of the first instances of Telluride playing a crucial role in the Oscar race came way back in 1992, when an completely unheralded British film called The Crying Gameplayed there and in Venice over the same weekend. It has since been documented that Miramax had no clue what to do with this tricky sexual and political thriller until the enormous reaction at Telluride suggested that it held potential gold — monetary and honorary — in its hands. Read the full THR article

Norwegian Ninja: The trippiest martial arts movie ever?

With “Norwegian Ninja,” first-time writer-director Thomas Cappelen Malling somehow, against all odds, delivers a film that’s even stranger than its boffo trailer suggests. Malling bases his hallucinatory mishmash on the biggest case of espionage and treason in his country’s history.  Read the full Salon article

Scorsese’s remake of The Gambler is news for original writer

Meanwhile, James Toback, who wrote the screenplay for the original Gambler, has described his “disbelief” at not being informed of the remake before news of it was reported by industry press. “I suppose I should feel … what? That a tribute is being paid to a creation I left behind?”  Read the full UK Guardian article

THE BIG 6 is a daily collection of film stories and features from around the web. If you have a something to add, leave a comment below.