In his first major film role since leaving the long-running ABC series 'Lost,' Matthew Fox will play an assassin in 'I, Alex Cross,' the reboot of the James Patterson franchise character with Tyler Perry starring and Rob Cohen directing.
Ed Burns has also signed on to play Tommy Kane, Cross's partner, stated Deadline.com.
Fox plays Michael Sullivan, who kills both for money and thrills. He's known as the Butcher of Sligo and shows why, after Cross thwarts one of his killing attempts. Sullivan makes his retribution personal, by killing the detective's wife in gruesome fashion. Then it becomes a mano-a-mano battle between them. Sullivan is one of the best known villains in the Patterson-penned novel series.
Mark Moss wrote the script, and he and Cohen have generated a new draft that has some twists different from the novel. The film is being produced by QED partners Bill Block and Paul Hanson.
Perry, after Idris Elba was initially approached, is taking over the role that Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman had when he starred in both Paramount films 'Kiss the Girls' (1997) and 'Along Came a Spider' (2001).
Tony Goldwyn and Cary Elwes played the bad guys in 'Girls,' while Michael Wincott, Monica Potter and Billy Burke were the evildoers in 'Spider.'