You have to love how a film that hasn’t been released yet is already casting its sequel Granted, there were sequels implied from the beginning whenadapting Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments novel series, but the first film, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, hasn't yet proven itself with audiences. Nonetheless, the upcoming City of Ashes is already trying to land Sigourney Weaver. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she’s currently in negotiations to take on one of the select characters who is new to the sequel. And it sounds like she’ll be kicking a little ass in it, making this role more comparable to her classic turn as Alien’s Ripley over some of her characters in crappy thrillers over the last decade or so.
City of Ashes will feature Weaver joining a cast of mostly returning actors, and she’ll be playing “the ruthless leader of the Shadowhunters who will stop at nothing to destroy the man who killed her son.” If there’s any adjective that pairs well with “ruthless,” it’s “vengeful.”
The Oscar-nominated Weaver had a pretty busy 2012, starring in Amy Heckerling’s marginal horror-tinged comedy Vamps and Oren Moverman’s crime drama Rampart, as well as bringing a winning cameo to Drew Goddard’s brainy and hilarious horror flick The Cabin in the Woods. On the more lackluster front, she was in Mabrouk El Mechri’s barely-promoted thriller The Cold Light of Day and in Rodrigo Cortés’ slow and dry mystery drama Red Lights. Her average of good film to non-good film is about even at this point, and I’m really not the right person to judge whether or not City of Ashes is going to help her or hurt her.
If you’re one of those people who still has no idea what this first film is about – and I won’t be judging you, believe me - here’s the short version. Lily Collins plays a girl whose mother is killed, but instead of being perpetrated by your average murderer, this one was done by a demon, which the girl can now see, learning that she is in fact part of a demon-destroying team called the Shadowhunters. Along the way, werewolves and vampires enter the mix, as does a love affair with another Shadowhunter.
The producers are looking to start production in October on the sequel, and since the first film will be released in a little less than a month on August 21, everyone will have a good idea by then of just how popular this franchise might be. Check out the City of Bones trailer below.
