Two More for Lurie’s Straw Dogs Remake

Add two more to Rob Lurie’s remake of the Sam Peckinpah 1971 thriller “Straw Dogs” — Variety reports that True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard will be swapping his fangs for missing teeth as a local, while Kate Bosworth will be rejoining her “Superman Returns” co-star James Marsden. Bosworth will play the wife of Marsden’s character, a big-shot Hollywood screenwriter who moves back to the sticks where his wife, a failed actress, grew up in order to write his latest script. There, the two are terrorized by the locals.

Skarsgard, who recently lost out on the “Thor” role to Aussie Chris Hemsworth, will play one of the locals, a former high school jock and boyfriend of Kate Bosworth’s character. If the remake follows the storyline of the original, Bosworth’s character won’t be entirely opposed to the advances of Skarsgard’s character. Of course, it would probably make more sense if Lurie had cast a skinny, not-as-handsome guy in the screenwriter role. You know, someone more like, oh I don’t know, Dustin Hoffman? Marsden looks like he can take care of himself, so that may throw a slight wrench on the premise of the city boy getting over his head with the tough, brutish locals.

Also, it’ll be interesting to see how Lurie, who has probably never visited (or indeed, entertained the idea of visiting) a Red State in his life before this movie, will portray the local denizens. If they come across as more than tobacco-munching, racist, homophobic rednecks in dirty overalls, we should probably be thankful.

Shooting on the “Straw Dogs” remake is set for August.

Below: “Okay, Kate, so the dirty, filthy rednecks are coming after you. Now scream! Scream as if a Republican is in the White House again!”