After a year-long pursuit, 20th Century Fox finally has its man, as James McAvoy is in negotiations to join Daniel Radcliffe in Paul McGuigan's "Frankenstein," TheWrap has learned.
Should a deal make, Fox would be back in business with McAvoy, who played Professor X the studio's blockbuster "X-Men: First Class" and reprises the role in Bryan Singer's upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
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McAvoy is in talks play Victor Von Frankenstein, a coveted role that Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") and Toby Kebbell ("RocknRolla") recently tested for. While Huston and Kebbell both have bright careers ahead of them, neither provided the star-power necessary to have justified the budget.
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Radcliffe is set to play Igor, and his pairing with McAvoy makes "Frankenstein" a safe bet for the studio.
Fox's "Chronicle" screenwriter Max Landis has updated Mary Shelley's classic mythology, and John Davis is producing the movie through his Davis Entertainment banner.
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McAvoy recently starred in Danny Boyle's "Trance" and the indie thriller "Welcome to the Punch." He'll soon be seen opposite Jessica Chastain in the two-part indie movie "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby," as well as a feature adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel "Filth."
McAvoy is repped by UTA.