ICYMI: TMI author Cassie Clare clears up movie rumors

It's been a very BUSY day for news on The Mortal Instruments movie! If you were like me, you kind of had a face like the little girl on the right. I was like OMG, I can't believe all these rumors, and I all I want is some truth! :)  After a much speculation by the Twitterverse, the Shadowhunter creator herself, Cassie Clare, put the rumors to bed and eased the minds of many an anxious TMI fan.

 First, there was the official announcement by Cassie that TMI would indeed have a release date of August 23, 2013, which was rumored via Screenrant yesterday. Then, Indiewire put the fandom in a talespin when the confirmed the movie release, but said that Jamie Campbell Bower was no longer attached to the project. In response, Cassie had this to say:
 
Movie stuffs »

There’s a bunch in here to digest, so have fun with it. The main thing that is confirmed truth here is that Sony/Screen Gems is distributing The Mortal Instruments movie, and the release date is set for August 23, 2013. I’ve seen people say “That’s so far off!” but as the article says “That gives new director Harald Zwart a little over a year and four months to cast, prep, shoot and edit “The Mortal Instruments.” It really isn’t that much time — at all!
“Expect casting notices for “The Mortal Instruments” to drop soon” is I imagine what everyone will instantly fixate on. :D As for the part about Jamie, last I heard he was attached and they were negotiating the details of his contract. That’s it, that’s all I know. You can ask me till you’re blue like a Smurf and I won’t know more. :)
[And if you’re excited about the movie, tell them in the comments! It makes the movie people happy and happy movie people work faster. :D)] And be happy. You’ve been waiting ages and things are happening and that is good.

There was still a lot of confusion, but things started to clear up when one of my fave sites, MTV's Hollywood Crush, released an interview in which said that Lily and Jamie were both on for the movie. The end of the article featured a little info on casting:

"With actors Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower in place as leads Clary Fray and Jace Wayland, casting characters like Simon, Magnus, Isabelle and Alec, will be a top priority. One, Cassie sadly couldn't tell us much about.
"I know what everyone wants to know about is casting, but that's staying close to the vest for the moment, though we do have a new casting director and she's on it. I'm excited to see what happens.'"

So, the tides started turning, and fans started to calm down following a second Tumblr message from the ever vigilant Mrs. Clare:

Hollywood Crush on the TMI movie »

Hello, Shadowhunters. :)
And a little bit more for you on the movie. It’s quite a day for us! But it’s hard to underestimate how important a release date is for a film. The only bigger deal is actually starting shooting at which point … you really have a movie.
As I told MTV, Harald (our director, so we might as well all start thinking of him on a first name basis) is putting his production team together. They just hired Francois Seguin  as production designer. Francois is incredibly talented and awesome, just was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the Borgias, and it is his job to make everything look amazing and beautiful. Francois, Harald and the production team are scouting for locations this week … so if you’re in Toronto and/or New York … you might see them searching for the Institute. :)
We have a casting director, too, Stephanie, and there’s a definite concentration on European and British actors for the Shadowhunters, which I like as it underlines the feeling that they are not quite like the culture that surrounds them. That doesn’t apply to Simon of course, so favorites floating around like a certain guy whose name starts with A and another guy whose name starts with L are not off the table. ;)*
*I’m really not supposed to talk about casting. They’ll make me live in a brick igloo. Since everyone is asking me about Playlist saying Jamie isn’t attached, they have been saying that for a while. I do not know why. It isn’t what I have heard, and that is honestly all I know.

 

Finally, Cassie took to twitter to soothe fans and answer questions as best as she good under the circumstances (See below). I know I am psyched that, at this moment, Jamie still seems to be a part of the project. I don't think he would have mentioned it a few days back via video had he not been planning on being in the movie. I guess my question for those who read this (and I know you are out there) is:

 Are you happy with the casting an directing choices?

Who are your favorite contenders for the roles of Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Jocelyn and Luke?

I assume the L is Logan Lerman, but who the heck is A? 

Have a great evening, Shadowhunters!