Casting news for the Stephen Sommers-directed adaptation of Dean Koontz‘s Odd Thomas: Addison Timlin is in talks to join star Anton Yelchin, and Tim Robbins may also be circling the project. [Variety]
Despite an earlier report that Lily Collins (just cast as Tarsem‘s Snow White) would appear in the film, evidently Californication‘s Timlin is now the frontrunner for the role of Stormy Llewellyn, the girlfriend of Yelchin’s titular character, a clairvoyant short order cook who must use his power to avoid (or prevent) a major catastrophe (and apparently commune with dead celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley).
There’s no word yet on who Tim Robbins might play (fingers crossed for Orson Welles – but perhaps the killer Harlo Landerson, see synopsis below), but according to Bloody Disgusting, he’s also in talks for a role. Given that Dean (“The Poor Man’s Stephen King“) Koontz’s Odd Thomas saga spans five novels and two graphic novel prequels, there’s plenty of characters to go around.
I haven’t read the Odd Thomas series, but I do know that Koontz’s work can be underrated (Watchers, Lightning), or forced and kind of lame (his Frankenstein series, which capitalizes on the fact that the character is in the public domain). Here’s a provocative synopsis of what appears to be the first book – the plotline of which the film may or may not follow:
“Odd Thomas is silently approached by the ghost of a young girl brutally raped and murdered, and through his unique ability to understand the dead, is psychically led to her killer, a former schoolmate named Harlo Landerson. With this opening, we are introduced to Odd’s world. Koontz soon discloses how Odd was named and begins, layer by layer, to show how Odd’s dysfunctional upbringing has shaped his life, and as those details are uncovered, his supernatural abilities begin to make more sense.”
This sounds like an interesting franchise, and after Star Trek and Charlie Bartlett, Yelchin has proven himself a likable and welcome star. We’ll have more news as this project continues to come together.
Have you read the Odd Thomas books? What do think of this casting news?