Gregory Smith (“Everwood”) and Christopher Eccleston (“Heroes”) have joined the cast of The Dark Is Rising, 20th Century Fox and Walden Media’s adaptation of Susan Cooper’s best-selling books, says The Hollywood Reporter. Marc Platt and Ron Schmidt are producing the picture, which is being directed by David L. Cunningham.
The first film adaptation of Susan Cooper’s acclaimed “The Dark Is Rising Sequence” tells the story of Will Stanton (newcomer Alexander Ludwig), a boy whose everyday life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of the “Old Ones,” a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the Dark. As he uncovers a series of mysterious clues, some dating back to the founding of Britain and others going all the way back to biblical times, Will discovers that with the Dark once again rising, the future of the world rests in his hands.
Smith is playing the teen’s older brother, an edgy young man with piercings and tattoos who questions their father’s authority. Eccleston is playing the movie’s villain, the Rider.
Also in the cast are Amelia Warner (Aeon Flux), Emma Lockhart (Batman Begins), Gary Entin, Edmund Entin, Jonathan Jackson and John Benjamin Hickey (Flags of Our Fathers).
Ian McShane and Frances Conroy have already been cast.
The movie starts filming Feb. 26 in Romania.
