HOME TRAILERS RELEASE DATES PODCASTS REVIEWS POSTERS INTERVIEWS BOB $TENCIL NEWS FEEDS ABOUT APPS

LATEST NEWS

Isla Fisher and Tom Wilkinson Also Join Landis' Burke & Hare

by Ethan Anderton
January 21, 2010

Just yesterday we received word via a redacted Twitter update from Simon Pegg that the magnificent Andy Serkis would be replacing David Tennant in the dark comedy Burke & Hare, John Landis' return to the director's chair after ten years. Now THR's Heat Vision confirms Serkis' casting in the project along with the addition of Isla Fisher and Tom Wilkinson. Serkis is obviously playing Hare opposite Pegg’s Burke with Fisher playing Burke’s girlfriend, an actress looking for a patron who might or might not be an accomplice to the murders and Wilkinson as Dr. Robert Knox, an anatomy lecturer looking for fresh corpses. Great cast!

The story in the movie focuses on the Burke and Hare murders, also known as the West Port murders, which were serial murders perpetrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1827 and 1828. The killings were attributed to Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection. I can't say how excited I am to have John Landis return to directing feature films after a ten year absence. And with the cast so far, and such a grotesquely, morbidly funny premise, I'm hoping this only leads to good fun at the movies. We'll keep you updated on Burke & Hare's development.

Explore tags: Casting, Movie News, Opinions

beavis

landis directing with wilkinson and pegg starring? AND a story that sounds great?............i'm IN!
Kinks

"morbidly funny premise"... Nothing funny about the murder of 17 people by two scumbags who tainted and sullied the reputation of the Irish for years. What an idiotic thing to say.
http://iconocritic.com peloquin

I agree with Kinks...though the premise does sound funny and unique, Alex should be a little more careful choosing his words when it's a true story about serial killers.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif crapola

Would be good if they had some Scottish folk in it, just for the accents sake really.
http://www.firstshowing.net Ethan Anderton

@ #2, Kinks, The film is meant to be a dark comedy, so yes, it's a morbidly funny premise. It's cool though. At least you thoroughly read the article and understood that fact before you decided to impulsively comment with a thoughtless insult. Cheers!
Cody

Wilkinson is one of the most underrated actors alive today. Seriously I never see him praised for his performances like he should.
Kinks

To Ethan, Clearly, I read your stupid comment as its in the second last line of the article, very dumb reply. As I am from Ireland myself, I don't find it funny that these two serial killers made life incredibly difficult for the Irish for years to come in Britain. A little historical sensitivity might be useful, you have no idea what you're talking about. I enjoy this site when there is a decent commentator. Bring back Alex. You don't cut it my friend. Cheers to you too.