In the red corner: The Toxic Avenger! And, in the blue corner: Frodo?
Strange scenario to be sure, but, according to a published report, Elijah Wood–famed for his portrayal of Frodo in the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings film saga–is on board as the villain in the upcoming remake of The Toxic Avenger from Legendary Entertainment, as reported by movieweb.com.
And what a villain he appears to be. The character Wood reportedly will play is described as sporting “leonine hair and eerie plastic surgery.” As “the evil head of the shady company Garb-X, he has no regard for the well-being of anyone but himself” and he “embarks on a murderous spree to become as powerful as Toxie.” Yup, that’s pretty much textbook for a villain.
This bad guy also has had his ego “bolstered by his standing among the town’s officials, but, in reality, he lives in fear of the underworld gang he’s indebted to.”
This casting report comes on the heels of Peter Dinklage (an Emmy winner for Game of Thrones) signing on to play the Toxic Avenger, Jacob Tremblay (Doctor Sleep) joining the cast as Toxie’s son and Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) coming aboard as the female lead.
The reboot–from writer/director Macon Blair–is said to be based on the 1984 cult classic from Troma Entertainment and filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman, with a few wrinkles. The movie will follow Winston, “a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X Health Club and who is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment his power-hungry employer refuses to pay for.”
Realizing this, Winston decides to rob the company, but he falls into “a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster who sets out to do good and to get back at all the people who have wronged him.” An ambitious agenda for a hideous monster.
The reboot–slated to start shooting later this month in Bulgaria–is being produced by Kaufman and Michael Herz. A release date has yet to be announced.
Keep reading Horror News Network for all future updates on this remake of The Toxic Avenger.
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