For a Vin Diesel-powered fantasy actioner, The Last Witch Hunter is certainly putting together a stellar supporting cast. First, Game of Thrones breakout Rose Leslie snagged the lead female role. Then, Diesel revealed that Oscar winner Michael Caine (Hannah and Her Sisters) had boarded the project. Now, ahead of filming getting under way within a month, the pic has added The Lord of the Rings alum Elijah Wood to its cast.
Wood has been favoring non-blockbuster roles lately with indie titles like Maniac, Open Windows and Grand Piano, in addition to his FX series Wilfred. It’s currently unknown which part the actor will be taking on here, but Diesel stars in The Last Witch Hunter as the title character, an immortal New Yorker who teams up with his sworn enemy, a witch (Leslie), to stop the covens of New York City from unleashing a devastating plague.
Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (Gods Of Egypt) scripted the pic, working from an original idea by Cory Goodman with additional scripting done by D.W. Harper and Melisa Wallack.
On paper, The Last Witch Hunter sounds like goofy fun, and it’s exciting to see Leslie land more big screen roles since Game of Thrones. Additionally, Diesel has been playing Fast & Furious protagonist Dom Toretto for so long that it will be refreshing to see the character step into another character’s skin.
Breck Eisner (The Crazies) is behind the camera for this project, which is also a promising sign. The horror-skewing helmer has proven that he knows how to build tension and deliver unnerving visuals, two skills that will undoubtedly come in handy on The Last Witch Hunter. Cameras roll this month, and we can expect to see Lionsgate announce a 2015 release date within the next few months.
