20th Century Fox’s long-gestating adaptation ‘Mouse Guard’ now has Idris Elba in final negotiations to join the cast. David Peterson’s comics and graphic novel are the source material for the film.
First off, the premise is below:
“Set in a medieval world and tells of an order of mice who are the sworn protectors of their realm. Enemies range from predators such as foxes and eagles to other rodents. A sort of ‘Game of Thrones’ with mice.”
Elba has been absolutely on fire as of late, and is continuing his hot streak of roles with this. He was previously Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is on his way to DC (more on that later). Not only that, he won a Golden Globe for the BBC series ‘Luther,’ which had its fifth season release last January. He was recently in Justin Lin’s ‘Star Trek Beyond,’ Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Molly’s Game.’ Elba reprised his role of Heimdall in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ the latter being the final appearance of the character.
This year he will be in two Universal films. One being the spin-off ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,’ releasing August 2. The other is the feature adaptation of ‘Cats,’ releasing December 20. He also seems to have closed his deal to replace Will Smith as Deadshot in Warner Bros. and James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad,’ releasing August 6, 2021.
The other cast members and their roles are below:
- Andy Serkis (‘Planets of the Apes’ trilogy, ‘Black Panther’) as the villain Midnight, the Guard’s blacksmith who turns against it.
- Thomas Brodie-Sangster (‘The Maze Runner’ trilogy, ‘Godless’) as Lieam, one of the Guard’s newest and youngest members who will be called upon to prove his bravery.
- Giancarlo Esposito (‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘Better Call Saul’) as Conrad, an older mouse, who after a life of adventure on the high seas, joined the Mouse Guard as a member of their seaside outpost, Calogero.
Elba will play Celanawe, an Obi-Wan Kenobi-like figure who was once a legendary champion and now thought long gone.
Based on the scoop from That Hashtag Show, who gave the report on Esposito’s casting, Elba is the replacement for Christian Bale, who was originally to going to play Celanawe.
Moreover, the movie will be using motion capture and will have WETA providing visual effects. WETA also did the ‘Planet of the Apes’ trilogy, and this film will have Matt Reeves producing, another ‘Apes’ alum. The film’s budget is reportedly around $150 million.
Further, Wes Ball, the helmer of the ‘Maze Runner’ trilogy, will be directing from a screenplay by Gary Whitta (‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,’ ‘Star Wars: Rebels’).
Additionally, the two crew members that have come aboard:
- Composer John Paesano (‘The Maze Runner’ trilogy, ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4’)
- Costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo (‘Avatar,’ ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ ‘Jojo Rabbit’)
‘Mouse Guard’ will begin filming this May in Los Angeles, California.
The film currently does not have a release date yet.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter