As Frodo in the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Elijah Wood got used to disappearing and then popping up unexpectedly. Well, he’s doing the same thing with the Legendary Entertainment reboot of The Toxic Avenger.
Just two weeks ago, the actor was rumored to play the bad guy in the remake of the 1984 Troma Entertainment cult hit, but then Kevin Bacon was handed the part a week later. But now, as reported by Deadline, Wood has indeed joined the growing cast, along with British actress/comedian Julia Davis. This remake is taking on a weird life of its own.
There has been no word, as of this writing, about the roles Wood and Davis will play in the film. What is known is that they join Peter Dinklage (Emmy Award winner from Game of Thrones) as the hideous hero, Bacon (X–Men: First Class) as the vile villain, Jacob Tremblay (Doctor Sleep) as Toxie’s son and Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) as the film’s female lead.
Wood has an affinity for the horror genre, having starred in a reboot of 1980’s Maniac and expressing an interest in reimagining such classics as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Children of the Corn through his production company SpectreVision.
The reboot–from writer/director Macon Blair–follows Winston, a janitor who is diagnosed with a terminal illness “that can only be cured by an expensive treatment his employer refuses to pay for,” according to the synopsis. So, the desperate man tries to rob the company, but instead falls into “a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a monster who sets out to do good and to get back at the people who have wronged him.”
This new version of The Toxic Avenger–produced by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz–will start shooting later this month. No release date has been announced.
The 1984 original–which did not impress critics or moviegoers–nevertheless became something of a bizarre attraction through the years–spawning three sequels, an animated children’s TV show, a video game, a comic book and even a musical.
Keep reading Horror News Network for the latest updates (and changes?) on this remake of The Toxic Avenger.
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