I can’t tell you how excited I am about this wonderful little piece of casting news. Simon Pegg, everyone’s favorite geek and all round genius for creating Spaced has supposedly been cast to star in Burke and Hare directed by none other than John Landis!

OH MY GOD!

John Landis who has been away from the silver screen for so long and has been directing episodes of television shows. John Landis who made Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Three Amigos, Coming To America and the seminal Thriller with Michael Jackson!

The reason I’m so excited about this project is not only because I am a huge fan of John Landis and Simon Pegg respectively but also for the fact that Burke & Hare has a delicious premise and is perfect for both these people.

Let me elaborate, William Burke and William Hare were two Irish immigrants who lived in Scotland in the mid 1800s. They were serial murderers that sold their victim’s bodies to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection. They sold 17 corpses in total before being caught. It’s a very famous chapter in Scottish history and I for one can’t wait for this film.

So far so very Tim Burton… but if Landis can reclaim old glories and repeat the dark humor we saw in An American Werewolf in London and if Pegg does what Pegg does best then I can’t see this film failing.

It is not yet known if Pegg will be Burke or Hare and whoever he is we still need a co-star. The obvious choice would be Nick Frost but let’s not jump to conclusions. I must stress that I do have one problem with this whole production, it seems that the screenplay has been written by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft who unfortunately are the writers of the recent St. Trinians film and it’s forthcoming sequel, which if anything proves that they are both very good at writing unfunny comedies.

Still I’m a glass half full rather than a glass half empty kind of guy and I am looking forward to this one and will be keeping my ears open for any forthcoming news on the project.