"Moonrise Kingdom" star Lucas Hedges joins "Kill the Messenger"

PanARMENIAN.Net - After playing one of the young scouts in Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," Lucas Hedges has been cast as Jeremy Renner and Rosemarie DeWitt's son in Focus Features' thriller "Kill the Messenger", TheWrap said.

"Messenger" tells the true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb (Renner), whose reporting exposed the CIA's involvement in helping Nicaragua's Contra rebels import cocaine into California during the 1980s. Webb was found shot to death in 2004 in what the coroner determined to be a suicide, but foul play has long been suspected.

Hedges will play Ian Webb, who looks up to his truth-seeking father and stands by him when Gary needs him the most.

Paz Vega will co-star in the film, while Michael K. Williams is in negotiations to play "Freeway" Rick Ross, though his "Boardwalk Empire" schedule may prevent him from taking on the brief-yet-key role.

Michael Cuesta ("Homeland") is directing from a script by Peter Landesman, who adapted Nick Schou's book. Scott Stuber is producing through his Bluegrass Films banner along with The Combine's Renner and Don Handfield, as well as Naomi Despres. Landesman will executive produce the film, which starts production in the coming weeks in Atlanta.

Hedges is the son of director Peter Hedges, who cast Lucas in the 2007 dramedy "Dan in Real Life." Focus produced that movie and also distributed "Moonrise Kingdom," so Hedges is no stranger to the company.

The rising young actor, who recently appeared alongside Colin Firth and Emily Blunt in "Arthur Newman," will soon be seen in Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" and Terry Gilliam's "The Zero Theorem." He also played a young Ewan McGregor in Noah Baumbach's HBO pilot "The Corrections," which is not going forward at the cable network.