It would seem that Jordi Molla lost out on his chance to play a major baddie in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sequel. While the actor was in contention for the part after Benicio del Toro turned it down (along with Edgar Ramirez), news came down last week that the part actually went to Benedict Cumberbatch. But for all of you who are sad that they won't get to see what Molla could do causing mayhem in outer space, I have good news: you may be able to see just that in the next Riddick movie.
Variety has learned that Jordi Molla is in talks to play the central villain in the untitled follow up to Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. It was reported just a few hours ago that Katee Sackhoff, best known for playing Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, has also signed on to star in the film. Molla will play Santana, the leader of a group of mercenaries that have been sent out to find and kill Riddick, who will once again be played by Vin Diesel. Molla is best known for playing Diego Delgado in Ted Demme's 2001 film Blow and most recently played alongside Zoe Saldana in Olivier Megaton's Columbiana. The upcoming film, which is currently in production, is being written and directed by David Twohy.
Molla was the only thing I actually liked about Columbiana, though I'm curious to see how Twohy uses him in the film. He's not exactly known for playing over-the-top, bombastic characters, so maybe he'll just be the level-headed, military-minded leader that's hunting down Riddick. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
