Wes Craven's '25/8' recasts lead
'Jumper' star Max Thierot in for Henry Lee Hopper
By Gregg Goldstein
April 16, 2008,
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Max Thierot, left, and Henry Lee Hopper
CORRECTED 2:16 p.m. PT April 17, 2008
NEW YORK -- "Jumper" star Max Thierot will replace Henry Lee Hopper as the lead in Wes Craven's tentatively titled horror thriller "25/8" for Rogue Pictures.
There were no creative differences between Craven and Dennis Hopper's son, who was set to make his screen debut as one of seven teens haunted by a killer who supposedly died when they were born. The 17-year-old actor contracted an illness common to fellow teens: mononucleosis.
"Wes said he was thinking about pushing the film back but couldn't because of the possible actors strike," said Hopper, who left the project a week ago and will enjoy time with his friends in California during their last summer home before college.
Newcomers Nick Lashaway, John Magaro and Paulina Olszynski have also joined the cast, and Raul Esparza is in talks to play the film's serial killer.
Lashaway will play a bully, Magaro will play Thierot's comic sidekick, and Olszynski will play a popular beauty among the small-town characters. Denzel Whitaker, Shareeka Epps and Emily Meade round out the cast. Principal photography is set to begin this month in Connecticut.
Thierot, whose profile is expected to rise considerably with this summer's "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl," is repped by Gersh.