Isla Fisher, Andy Serkis and Tom Wilkinson have joined Simon Pegg in “Burke and Hare,” a horror comedy that marks John Landis’ return to feature directing after more than 10 years.
Written by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft, “Hare” is based on the true story a pair of the U.K.’s earliest serial killers, William Burke and William Hare, gravediggers who lucratively sold the corpses of their victims to a medical college for dissection.
Serkis, fresh off a leading actor BAFTA nomination for “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll,” will play Hare opposite Pegg’s Burke. (David Tennant was tipped for the role but bowed out when he joined the NBC pilot “Rex Is Not My Lawyer.”)
Fisher will play Pegg’s girlfriend, an actress looking for a patron who might or might not be an accomplice to the murders.
Wilkinson will play Dr. Robert Knox, an anatomy lecturer looking for fresh corpses.
The movie begins shooting Jan. 31 in Edinburgh and London, bringing Landis back to the scene of his 1981 hit “An American Werewolf in London.”
Barnaby Thompson is producing; Ealing Studios’ James Spring is executive producing.
Fisher, repped by CAA and Mosaic, most recently appeared in “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”
Serkis, repped by Lou Coulson Associates and Principal Entertainment, is best known for his work as Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies and in “King Kong.” He is portrays Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.”
Wilkinson next appears in Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and recently wrapped shooting Michel Gondry’s “The Green Hornet” for Sony
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