Cotillard, Murphy & Ellen Page in Chris Nolan's INCEPTION!

Warner Bros. are in talks with 2008 Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, 2008 Oscar nominee Ellen Page and the Scarecrow himself Cillian Murphy to star in Chris Nolan's science fiction film Inception says today's Hollywood Reporter. The film which Nolan wrote as his first original solo written script will begin production in the summer with Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. The movie has the release date July 16th, 2010 already attached. Nolan, who always likes to tease, has yet to release anything more than this as a plot...

"contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind".

BUT, we do have some character details at last. DiCaprio will play a CEO-type executive, Cotillard is his wife. Page is a young college grad and sidekick to DiCaprio. They also reveal that James Franco was ready to sign onto the project but had to drop out when a schedule was picking up for his stoner comedy adventure film Your Highness with David Gordon Green. Presumably he was up for the role that Cillian Murphy eventually nabbed. Nolan has a great eye for casting, everything from the major roles all the way down to the small supporting players. Cotillard in a year's time should be a household name when she adds Public Enemies and Nine to her résumé, Murphy... we all know what he can do and he feels at home in this genre (Sunshine, 28 Days Later). But it's Page that has to see this as a great deal for her. She was originally offered but turned down the lead in Sam Raimi's horror film Drag Me To Hell, what at this point has to be seen as a career mistake as the expected big offers of roles have yet come her way. Well until today anyway.