Andy Serkis,
Idris Elba,
Samson Kayo and Thomas Brodie-Sangster were attached to the project, with
Jack Whitehall also circling a role. Motion-capture veteran Serkis was on board to play villain Midnight, a former Guard blacksmith who betrayed the order; Elba was set to take on the role of Celanawe, a former hero who was considered dead but is found; Brodie-Sangster was tapped to play Lieam, a young newbie to the Guard and Kayo was slated for Saxson, a rogue with a difficult temper. Whitehall was in talks for the role of Kenzie, a calm staff-wielder who often partners with Saxson.
The move, which went down Wednesday,
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed, happens in the shadow Disney's acquisition of Fox, a deal finalized March 20.
The producers, which include Matt Reeves, Ross Ritchie and Stephen Christy, are being allowed to shop the project to other studios, sources indicated. Several studios are already interested. The project is a ready-to-go, four quadrant franchise starter from Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind the
Maze Runner series, which grossed almost a billion dollars. One possible home could be Netflix, where Reeves, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed
Planet of the Apes movies, has a production deal. Paramount, whose current motion picture head Wyck Godfrey was a producer on
Maze Runner, is another possible contender.
