I am, by no means, a big fan of medieval themes, although a movie here and there, or an occasional trip to a Renaissance Faire is fun. But man, Ironclad is sounding awesome. Variety reports that the film is the first project for the newly formed Mythic International Entertainment, and will be directed by Jonathan English.

Why is this sounding so awesome? The cast. Already signed to the $30 million feature is Richard Attenborough, Pete Postlethwaite, Angus Macfayden, and Colm Meaney. Meanwhile, James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti are in talks to join the production as well. It's a historical feature full of talented testosterone!

Set in 13th century England, the film will focus on "a small band of knights who defended Rochester Castle against the tyrant King John." There's no mention of who the signed leads are playing (presumably knights), but if James and Paul sign on, Purefoy will play the lead night, and Giamatti will be King John.

It sounds great to me! After John Adams, I've been on a total Giamatti kick, and along with actors like Attenborough and Postlethwaite, this could be one hell of a great action film.

What do you think?

Last year, Jessica was keeping us up-to-date on the beginning morsels of the Solomon Kane project. First, James Purefoy signed on to star, and then a poster was released, although the rest of the cast had yet to be named. Finally, Empire has reported on the growing cast, which is one hell of a great collection of character actors. Production is about to begin, and these are the guys and gals that will be joining Purefoy on the big screen -- Pete Postlethwaite (The Omen), Max von Sydow (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Rachel Hurd-Wood (Perfume), Alice Krige (Star Trek: First Contact), and Mackenzie Crook (the one-eyed dude from Pirates of the Caribbean).

This project is planned to be the first of three films, and with more of these guys to come, here's who they will play -- von Sydow will play Kane's father, Hurd-Wood will play Meredith, Kridge will play Meredith's mother, Postlethwaite will take on the role of her dad, and finally Crook will play Father Michael. Solomon Kane is about, believe it or not, a somber Puritan who travels the world and saves it from all forms of evil. I wonder how Robert E. Howard came up with that. Puritans aren't the sort of people that usually bring to mind heroism. Anyway... Production begins really soon in Prague, with Michael J. Bassett (Deathwatch) directing.