Hugh Grant joins CLOUD ATLAS cast

Hugh Grant has joined the cast of Cloud Atlas, which is being directing by The Wachowski's and Tom Twyker. ScreenDaily reports that Grant will star alongside Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving Jim Sturgess and Ben Whishaw.

The film is based on David Mitchell’s novel which follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. Each actor in the film will be playing multiple roles, but specific roles have yet to be confirmed. Earlier we reported that Hugo Weaving will in fact be playing 6 different characters. Here’s the synopsis of the book:

The story presents six narratives that evoke an array of genres, from Melvillean high-seas drama to California noir and dystopian fantasy. There is a naive clerk on a nineteenth-century Polynesian voyage: and aspiring composer who insinuates himself to the home of a syphilitic genius: a journalist investigating a nuclear plant: a publisher with a dangerous best-seller on his hands: and a cloned human being created for slave labour. These five stories are bisected and arranged around a sixth, the oral history of a post-apocalyptic island, which forms the heart of the story.

The film will be shot on location in Glasgow, Spain and Germany. Focus Features International are handling sales, with Warner Bros distributing in the US. The film is slated for release in 2012. Grant is a solid actor so it will be interesting to see what size of a role he will play. What are your thoughts on this casting news?