Elijah Wood is certainly no stranger to the world of fantasy, having spent years of his life strapping on a pair of overly-sized, hairy prosthetic feet to play Frodo Baggins in both Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. Now he's ready to make his return to the genre, only instead bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's work to life, he'll be starring alongside Vin Diesel and possibly helping to murder the hell out of some witches.
Summit Entertainment has announced that Elijah Wood has become the latest actor to sign on to The Last Witch Hunter, an action adventure fantasy movie that has been in the works for years as a starring vehicle for Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel. Unfortunately, no details are currently available about the character that Wood will be playing in the movie, but he joins a supporting cast that already includes Rose Leslie of Game of Thrones fame, and Academy Award-winner Michael Caine.
First entering into development all the way back in 2011 with director Breck Eisner attached to helm, the movie will see Diesel as an immortal witch hunter (and presumably the last, given the title) who needs to stop a coven in New York City from unleashing a plague on the world. In order to do this, however, he must team up with his natural enemy: a female witch (who will be played by Leslie). Like the situation with Wood, no information is currently available about the role played by Michael Caine. Cory Goodman, the screenwriter best known for writing the comic book adaptation that became the Paul Bettany vehicle Priest, developed the pitch, and D.W. Harper and Melisa Wallack are both credited for having worked on the script for The Last Witch Hunter. The feature will be Eisner's first since making 2010's The Crazies.
Wood will perhaps forever be remembered for his part in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or his time as a child actor, but he's continued to produce on a high level over the last few years. His well-received dark comedy series Wilfred on FX will be coming to an end later this month after four seasons on the air, and Wood has kept busy on the big screen starring in thrillers like Open Windows and Grand Piano.
Summit's press release doesn't mention when The Last Witch Hunter is planning on going into production, but if they're securing their supporting cast, that presumably means that the movie will get going in the next few months. If that does turn out to be the case, then we can probably expect the finished result to be in theaters either sometime in the second half of next year, or possibly in the early months of 2016.
