The Hunger Games and Interstellar star Wes Bentley has, according to a story today at TheWrap, joined the cast of Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming remake of Pete’s Dragon. Although his role has not yet been revealed, Bentley will join a cast that already includes Academy Award winner Robert Redford (All is Lost, Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help, Jurassic World), Oakes Fegley (This is Where I Leave You) and Oona Laurence (“Penny Dreadful”). Ain’t Them Bodies Saints‘ David Lowery is directing the remake and recently teased the film’s preproduction in an Instagram photo that you can check out below.
The original film, a hybrid of live action and animation, was released in 1977 and followed the adventures of Pete (Fegley), a young orphan boy with an imaginary friend, Elliot, who just happens to be an enormous animated dragon. The new version will offer the dragon via CGI and will have the Pete character joined by a human friend, Natalie (Laurence).
Bentley, who also recently made a memorable appearance on “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” can next be seen in Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups opposite Brian Dennehy, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Christian Bale, Ben Kingsley, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Poots, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto and Armin-Mueller-Stahl.
Lowery has also co-written the screenplay for Pete’s Dragon with Toby Halbrooks and is set to begin production shortly in New Zealand. Jim Whitaker (American Gangster, The Odd Life of Timothy Green) is attached to produce.
(Photo Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN.com)
