It’s been a while since the words “A John Landis Film” have crossed the silver screen, so I’m pleased to note some news regarding his next feature film project.
It was announced last August that John Landis would be working on a horror comedy called Burke and Hare with British actor Simon Pegg. Now, The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Heat Vision” blog is reporting that Andy Serkis will be co-starring with Pegg, replacing David Tennant.
From a script by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft (St. Trinian’s), the film is about two gravediggers whose first names were both William and also happened to be the earliest serial killers in Britain.
(Ooh! Etymology fun time! It’s from these two killers that we get the verb “to burke” which a free dictionary defines as “To execute (someone) by suffocation so as to leave the body intact and suitable for dissection.” And it’s not just regular strangulation, either, as there’s usually an element of chest compression as well.)
Also starring in the film will be Isla Fisher as Pegg’s girlfriend and possible accomplice and Tom Wilkinson as an anatomy lecturer who unknowingly buys the duo’s victims in his search for teaching supplies.
Filming will begin in the U.K. at the end of this month.