Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise and Edwin Hodge are the newest Wolverines to join MGM/UA’s “Red Dawn” remake.

They join Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki in the revamp of the 1984 action movie about a group of teenagers who form an insurgency when their town is invaded — this time by Chinese and Russian soldiers.

Hutcherson will play Robert, originated by C. Thomas Howell, and become the group’s tech geek. Lucas is Erica, head cheerleader and the Peck character’s girlfriend whom he desperately hopes to spring from an internment camp. Lea Thompson played the character in the original.

Cruise is playing Daryl, the son of Spokane’s mayor and Robert’s best friend. And Hodge will play Danny, the coolest kid in school and star wide receiver who helps establish the resistance.

The young cast heads off in a few weeks for military training in an undisclosed location.

Dan Bradley is directing from a screenplay by Jeremy Passmore and Carl Ellsworth. Contrafilm’s Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing. Vince Newman and Kevin Halloran are exec producing.

The film is scheduled to begin filming next month in Detroit for a Sept. 24, 2010 release.

Hutcherson, repped by ICM and Ric Beddingfield, starred in “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “Bridge to Terabithia.”

Lucas, repped by UTA and Sharron Meissner in Australia, recently appeared in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

Cruise, the 14-year-old son of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, debuted in December as the young Will Smith character in “Seven Pounds.”

Hodge, repped by Global Artists Agency and Luber Roklin Entertainment, has a recurring role on Fox’s “Mental” and recently appeared in the feature “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.”

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Cruise’s 13-year-old son will have a six-day jump on his father at the box office.

Connor Cruise makes his big-screen debut in “Seven Pounds,” which opens Friday. On Dec. 25, his father’s “Valkyrie” hits theaters.

It’s a small, supporting role for Connor, one of two children from Cruise’s marriage to Nicole Kidman. Cruise also has a daughter, Suri, with his wife, Katie Holmes.

In a recent interview, Cruise said he’s very proud of Connor, but was careful not to pressure him.

“Who knows what he’s going to do?” Cruise said. “He’s grown up on (acting). I’ve always had my kids there, in hair and makeup, just always around the sets. They’ve worked on sets.”

Cruise said he’s played acting class games with his children, and they’ve often watched him develop characters.

The 46-year-old actor said driving Connor to his audition for “Seven Pounds” was a “great father-son moment,” but the audition was more difficult. Cruise and the film’s star Will Smith, who are friends, were in the room when director Gabriele Muccino ordered them to leave.

Said Cruise: “(Muccino) looked at me and Will, and Will and I were like, `How’s he doing?’ And the director just said, `Out!’ So we were standing in the hall for about half an hour or something, wondering, `What’s going on in there? What’s happening?’”

But Connor got the part. He plays a young Ben Thomas, Smith’s character, in the movie.

(Source: The Associated Press)

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