Way back in November, John C. Reilly signed on to play Larten Crepsley in the adaptation of Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak. Since then, we've gotten a sneak peek at Salma Hayek's bearded lady, but nothing of the sharp-toothed Crepsley -- until now! Empire has posted a first look at Reilly's character, which you can see cropped on the right. (It's a little bigger over at Empire, but unfortunately, not much.)

The film focuses on a 14-year-old kid, Darren Shan (Chris Kelly), who visits an illegal freak show, sneaks in after hours, and gets thrust into a life of freak shows and vampiric servitude. The photo shows Shan and Crepsley, so maybe this is when the poor kid getting pulled into the freakish life. Although really, I think Crepsley's outfit is the most freakish thing. That, and the darkly rouged cheeks.

The flick should hit US shores in 2008, before the scheduled UK release in February of 2009.

*Note: Both the real Darren Shan and the kid who plays the fictional Darren Shan use two names. To clear up confusion between the Empire report, here, and IMDb: The young actor goes by Chris Kelly and Chris Massoglia, while Darren Shan is also known as Darren O'Shaughnessy.

The last time Willem Dafoe appeared on the big screen as a vampire, he was Nosferatu, and his performance scored him an Oscar nomination. Now he's got not one, but two vampire films on the way. Daybreakers has entered post-production, and now ShockTillYouDrop reports that Dafoe has signed on for a role in Paul Weitz's Cirque du Freak.

The film focuses on a kid who visits a freak show with his best friend, and then has to become an assistant to the vampire Mr. Crepsley to save his bud's life -- which means leaving his family and life forever. While in the freak show, he ends up in the center of a vampiric turf war. Dafoe will play Gavner Perl -- a Vampire General and old friend of Crepsley's.

This whole production just got even sweeter. Other names attached to the film include Salma Hayek, John C. Reilly, Jane Krakowski, Ken Watanabe, and Patrick Fugit.

Beards! They're all the rage these days! Conan and Letterman grew facial hair during the writers strike, Ryan Reynolds has been sporting some, Jonah Hill has that scruffy thing going, Jake Gyllenhaal has a beard (and I don't mean Reese Witherspoon) -- and now the trend has even spread to the womenfolk.

Get a load of Salma Hayek, the dazzlingly incomprehensible Mexican beauty who's now shooting a film called Cirque du Freak, in which she plays a sideshow's bearded lady. The film, based on a series of novels, also stars John C. Reilly as a vampire. (I'm sold!) It's set to open in February 2009, two months after that other vampire movie, Twilight.

Hayek is no stranger to unflattering facial hair, of course. She uglied up her eyebrows to play the title role in Frida back in 2002, and that extra bit of hair was just enough to put her over the top for an Oscar nomination. Eyebrows, now a beard -- what next? The lead in the Magnum P.I. movie? Just a thought.

[Via JustJared, which has a few more bearded-Hayek pics, too.]

Come one, come all! We've got two meddlesome kids (Josh Hutcherson and Chris Kelly), one of whom becomes the catalyst for a war between the vampires and the Vampanese. We've got a centuries-old vamp who owns a very large and special spider (John C. Reilly). And lastly, we've got one of the sexiest bearded ladies this side of beardonia (Salma Hayek). What else could a Cirque du Freak want?

Variety reports that the next ingredient in this bloody recipe is Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, or better yet, Ra's Al Ghul). He'll play Mr. Tall, "the barker for the Cirque" -- you know, the dude who tries to attract passerby into the big tent with promises of all sorts of joy and wonder. The film, coming from Brian Helgeland's script and Paul Weitz's directorial hand, is about a young kid who is drafted to become an old vampire's assistant. The kid then, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your POV), gets made half-vamp and becomes that pesky catalyst.

Now a Cirque can't rely only on an old vamp, a spider (who will voice her, anyway?), and a bearded lady -- unless Mr. Tall is that good -- so I imagine we should get some more casting bites soon enough. Production is set to role next month.

John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek starring in a Paul Weitz semi-horror flick / adaptation of a best-selling kids book? Sounds interesting enough to me. It'll be the first movie for Ms. Hayek since she took some time off to have a baby, and she'll be co-starring opposite the Dewey Cox star in Universal's Cirque du Freak. (Check out Monika's previous report right here.)

The film, which is based on a popular 12-book series by Darren Shan, begins production this month. Variety offers us non-readers a handy little synopsis: "Reilly will play a vampire who drafts a 14-year-old to serve as his assistant. The youth is turned into a half-vampire and becomes the catalyst in a battle between vampires and the rival Vampanese. Hayek will play Madame Truska, the bearded lady." According to the IMDB, the adaptation was written by screenwriter Brian Helgeland, whom you'll no doubt remember from L.A. Confidential, Mystic River and (of course) 976-EVIL.

Mr. Weitz's most recent film was American Dreamz, but I choose to focus more on his good movies. Like the first American Pie, the fantastic About a Boy, and the seriously underrated In Good Company.

For a while, "Freak Show" meant a gathering that showcased anyone who was a bit different. Perhaps they had much excess hair, or were particularly tiny or tall. Maybe they were twins who were bonded by more than sibling love, or dudes missing appendages. But times have changed, and that's not really acceptable anymore. So, if you want to delight in all things freak, you've got to be able to stomach seeing dudes nail things into their body, or, in the case of cinema, see a Freak Show that's more fantastical than "freakish."

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Cal Naughton Jr., aka John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson (Bridge to Terabithia), and Chris Kelly (Boys Life) are in final negotiations to star in Cirque du Freak -- a kidlit adaptation that's being put together by Universal. Based on a series written by Darren Shan, the story focuses on best friends (Hutcherson and Kelly) "who visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a giant deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices that result in vampire servitude and vampirism itself." (The show also has a really bitey werewolf.) Believe it or not, Reilly will play "Larten Crepsley, the centuries-old vampire and owner of Madame Octa, the spider." This crazy, yet weirdly appealing, story is the brainchild of About a Boy writer/director Paul Weitz, who wrote the script and will direct it when production starts in February. So, what do you think? Are you ready to see Reilly get his bite on?