Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz and Oscar-nominee Richard Jenkins will headline the cast of Let Me In, Matt Reeves’ adaptation of Let the Right One In, when principal photography begins this fall in New Mexico. The announcement was made today by Hammer Films Co-CEO’s Simon Oakes and Nigel Sinclair, as well as Overture Films CEO Chris McGurk and COO Danny Rosett.
Director Reeves (Cloverfield) has cast Smit-McPhee (The Road) and Moretz ((500) Days of Summer) in the two lead adolescent roles of Owen and Abby for the eagerly awaited horror feature. Jenkins will play the lead adult character known as Hakan in the original film.
Based on the bestselling Swedish novel, “Lat den Ratte Komma In,” by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let Me In is a contemporary vampire tale about a young boy who befriends a girl new to his neighborhood. The film is a remake of the highly acclaimed Swedish film, Lat den Ratte Komma In, also known as, Let the Right One In.
Hammer acquired the remake rights to Let the Right One In at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival where the film took home the Founders Award® for Best Narrative Feature, and has fast-tracked the film for a November 2009 start date. The film is a Hammer Films production with a projected 2010 release in the U.S. by Overture Films. Exclusive Film Distribution is handling worldwide sales and distribution of the film.
Producing the film are Hammer’s Simon Oakes, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair and Oscar®-winner Donna Gigliotti. Hammer’s Alex Brunner and Tobin Armbrust will executive produce along with John Ptak, Philip Elway and Fredrik Malmberg. Overture’s Robert Kessel, EVP Production & Acquisitions, will oversee production for the studio. Swedish producers John Nordling and Carl Molinder, who produced the original film, are also involved as producers on this remake.
The Australian-born Smit-McPhee, 13, stars alongside Viggo Mortensen in The Road, a film festival favorite due out in November. He previously earned the AFI Young Actor’s Award® in 2007 for his role in Romulus, My Father.
Moretz, 12, will star in the muchtalked-about Kick-Ass next spring and previously appeared in (500) Days of Summer and The Amityville Horror. She has been nominated each of the past three years for a Young Artist Award®.
Jenkins first worked with Overture on The Visitor, for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination last year. His recent work includes Burn After Reading, Step Brothers and television’s “Six Feet Under.” He is due to star in several upcoming projects including the much-anticipated The Cabin in the Woods, Dear John and Eat, Pray, Love.
It was announced last year that Reeves will write and direct Let Me In. In addition to the box office hit Cloverfield, Reeves’ directing credits include the comedy The Pallbearer, starring David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow, and the hit television show “Felicity,” starring Keri Russell, which he co-created and executive produced along with partner J.J. Abrams.
“Kodi, Chloe, and Richard are my absolute dream cast,” says Reeves. “I couldn’t be more excited to be working with them.”
Let Me In is the first film in a two-picture co-production, financing and distribution agreement between Overture Films and Exclusive Media Group, the parent company of Hammer Films and Spitfire Pictures.
