EXCLUSIVE: The last two years saw the quiet development of Monster Hunter from Resident Evil franchise duo Paul W.S. Anderson and producing partner Jeremy Bolt. The adaptation of the hit 2004 video game IP is now finally taking shape with word that actor and martial artist Tony Jaa will play The Hunter, joining the casting line-up announced earlier this evening at The Hollywood Reporter.
For every Monster, there is a Hero. An ordinary man in a dead end job discovers that he is actually the descendant of an ancient hero. He must travel to a mystical world to train to become a Monster Hunter, before the mythical creatures from that world destroy ours.
As The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit noted on Tuesday evening, actor and recording artist T.I. Harris is joining the cast as Link with famed Hellboy persona Ron Perlman playing Admiral, leader of the Hunters’ crew. The film will also reteam Anderson and Bolt with Resident Evil franchise actress Milla Jovovich who, as of May, will lead the cast as Artemis, and with production kicking off in South Africa next month.
Anderson and Bolt are joined by Robert Kulzer in producing the film for Screen Gems ahead of its U.S. release. Sony Pictures Releasing International will take the film to other territories.
The Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong franchise star’s career took off with great international ceremony beginning in 2015 appearing in films such as Skin Trade and Furious Seven. His progress continued with Soi Cheang’s S.P.L. 2: A Time For Consequence, and in 2017 with Vin Diesel for an ensemble outing in xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage.
Jaa will next be seen in Yuen Woo-Ping’s long-awaited Ip Man spin-off, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, opposite starring actor Max Zhang with Michelle Yeoh and Dave Bautista also starring.
