The feature adaptation of The Spook’s Apprentice (known as The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch here in the US), the first book in Joseph Delaney’s bestselling fantasy series, is shaping up to have quite the cast: not only are Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) and Jeff Bridges set to take on the lead roles, as the apprentice and the Spook respectively, but the project also has Julianne Moore set to play the villain; Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) set to play Alice, Thomas’ love interest; and Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) on board to play one of the Spook’s former apprentices. Not bad, eh?
Clearly Warner Brothers is hoping The Seventh Son (as the movie will be called) will turn out to be the next Harry Potter, but with production just starting this April, we’ll have to wait until next year to find out if they’re right…
Book Jacket:
Capturing witches.
Binding boggarts.
Driving away ghosts.
For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried – some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.
Only Thomas Ward is left. He’s the last hope; the last apprentice.
Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook’s warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county … ?
You can read an excerpt here.
How come Ban Barnes was casted as Thomas?
In the first book Thomas is only 13!
Sadly the Harry Potter series was the exception, not the rule – Hollywood will pretty much always age up roles so as to cast bankable, “name” actors…