Once touted as shoo-in for stardom, or at least dwarfstardom, Ioan Gruffudd (“Yo-an Griff-ith”) hasn’t been a major big screen presence in recent years, focusing his energies instead on the small screen. The one-time Mr. Fantastic - or ‘Bendy Stretcherooney’ as he’s known in these parts – is back in action, however, in ‘70s-style disaster flick San Andreas.
According to Deadline, Gruffudd will be joining Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino in the Brad Peyton-directed project. The movie will, as the title implies, see a major quake strike California. In the absence of Superman, it falls to Johnson’s ex-Special Ops firefighter to deal with the aftermath and track down his ex-wife (Gugino) and daughter (Alexandra Daddario). No, we have no idea what a Special Ops firefighter is either, but if you’re a ninja with a chip fire on your hands, you could probably do a lot worse.
Gruffudd’s role in the Rockbuster is that of Daniel Reddick, a rich property developer who’s engaged to Johnson’s ex. In the Irwin Allen model, this sounds a lot like the Snivelling And Unethical Villain role played with such slimy brilliance by Richard Chamberlain in The Towering Inferno, but time will tell.
Peyton, who has Rock previous with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, also has Cats And Dogs 2 on his CV. He’ll be working with producers Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson when the shoot gets underway in Australia in June with a view to a summer 2015 release.
Gruffudd fans (Gruffalos? Gruffuddians? Elmer Gruffudds?) can catch the Welshman in action in the recently-wrapped home invasion flick Home Invasion. He also has a pilot, Forever, on the go for Warner Bros. and ABC in the US.