Monster Hunter

Milla Jovovich is re-teaming with her husband Paul W.S. Anderson for a film adaptation of another video game, ‘Monster Hunter’.  The pair previously collaborated on the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise.  Considering that video game movies are generally flops, the fact that ‘Resident Evil’ lasted six financially successful installments is a pretty significant achievement.  But the fantasy-themed ‘Monster Hunter’ is possibly more ambitious (i.e. expensive) and the stakes might be a bit higher.  This medieval adventure series allows players to protect their village by battling giant monsters.  The games have been offered in a variety of formats, traditional RPG, MMORPG, streamlined portable versions, and more.

Jovovich is playing a character called Artemis.  Joining Jovovich will be an old pro when it comes to the monster game, Ron Perlman.  Perlman will play the Admiral, leader of the Hunter’s Crew.  Perlman most recently headlined the Crackle series ‘Startup’ and lent his voice to the animated miniseries ‘Transformers: Power of the Primes’.  Before that, he headlined the popular cult series ‘Sons of Anarchy’.

But he may be best remembered for his big breakthrough in the 1980s TV series ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and the first two ‘Hellboy’ movies, directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Also joining the cast is rapper T.I., a.k.a. Clifford Harris.  He will be portraying a sniper named Link.

T.I. has had numerous #1 albums and hit singles including “Whatever You Like,” “Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna and “Dead and Gone” featuring Justin Timberlake.  He was featured on Timberlake’s #1 song “My Love” and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.”

He has had numerous film roles, but perhaps most notably as Dave, part of Scott Lang’s crew in ‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.

Finally, ‘Monster Hunter’ has also cast martial arts superstar Tony Jaa as The Hunter, who appears to be the movie’s male lead.

Jaa starred in the popular ‘Ong-Bak’ movies and has crossed over into more mainstream fare, like ‘Furious 7’ and ‘xXx: The Return of Xander Cage’.

‘Monster Hunter’ is slated to begin filming next month in South Africa, with a budget of approximately $60 million.  Anderson wrote the script himself and is also producing with frequent collaborators Jeremy Bolt and Robert Kulzer.

The film will be distributed by Screen Gems in the United States.  Check back for updates!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter