It’s been 2 years since the announcement of David Hayter’s film ‘Wolves’ and while not much had been heard since then, it looks like the project is finally gaining momentum. Earlier this month, Lucas Till signed on to play the lead role in the film and now Variety is reporting that Jason Momoa has joined the cast to play his antagonist.
Momoa first gained the attention of Hollywood when he was cast as hunky lifeguard, Jason Ioane, in the series ‘Baywatch.’ He’s been a genre favorite since starring in the series ‘Stargate: Atlantis.’ While his portrayal as Conan in the film remake of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ bombed at the box office, his star was redeemed by his depiction of Khal Drogo in last season’s ‘Game of Thones.’ Now he’s signed on to play the lycanthrophic villain in ‘Wolves.’
The movie follows a teenage werewolf named Caleb Richards (Lucas Till) who finds himself on the run after the murder of his parents. He winds up in a small town called Lupine Ridge which happens to be a hot spot for supernatural activity and may hold the secrets to his past. Momoa will play the patriarchal alpha werewolf of the town.
‘Wolves’ will be Hayter’s directorial debut and is based on an original screenplay that he wrote. He’s no stranger to the sci-fi world as he’s also written ‘X-Men,’ ‘X-2,’ ‘The Watchmen,’ and ‘The Scorpion King’ to name a few. In a 2010 interview with Deadline, he had stated that the film, which he hoped would spin off into a franchise, would not only be a movie that would deconstruct previous werewolf mythology and films, but it would also be a metaphor for teens maturing sexually.
Award winner Dave Elsey will be designing the look of the creatures for ‘Wolves’ hot off his Saturn Award win for Best Make Up for his work on Beast in ‘X-Men: First Class.’ He also shared an Oscar with Rick Baker for their work on ‘The Wolfman.’
Production of ‘Wolves’ is slated to begin next month in Toronto.
