Given that his brother, Chris, has just experienced a rough ride with the critics on The Golden Compass, you’d imagine that Paul Weitz would be a little wary about making his next movie a foray into the world of fantasy.
Commendably, though, the elder Weitz brother is ploughing ahead with his adaptation of Darren Shan’s children’s horror novels, Cirque De Freak – and he’s assembling a hell of a cast.
John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek had already signed on to star in the movie, which indicates that Weitz isn’t too preoccupied with casting big names that will put bums on seats. Here, as with the likes of Harry Potter and, erm, The Golden Compass, the hope is that the brand name is the star.
And today, his cast got a little bit better, with news that Ken Watanabe had signed on to play Mr. Tall, the barker for the titular supernatural circus, for which Reilly’s vampire recruits a fourteen year-old boy as his assistant. When the boy is half-turned, it sparks a war between the vampires and the mysteriously-named Vampanese.
Hayek will play Madame Truska, the bearded lady. Shooting will begin next month, and we wish Weitz The Elder all the luck in the world.