Guy Pearce to replace Michael Sheen in Bloodshot adaptation

Variety brings word that Golden Globe nominee Guy Pearce (Prometheus, Memento, L.A. Confidential) is in talks to replace Michael Sheen on Sony’s adaptation of Valiant Entertainment’s comic Bloodshot. Sheen was forced to back out of the project for scheduling conflicts. The film is currently in production and Pearce was snatched up quickly as a replacement.

Created by Kevin Van Hook, Don Perlin and Bob Layton, Bloodshot tells the story of a former soldier, Ray Garrison, killed and brought back to life with technological upgrades thanks to Rising Spirit Technologies, filling his body with billions of nanobots. This allows him to be the perfect soldier by healing from injuries, shapeshifting and even interacting with technology. Ray, aka Bloodshot, suffers total memory loss and struggles to reconnect with who he was while learning what sort of weapon he has become, with the help of a group of other augmented combatants known as Chainsaw.

Pearce joins an already star-studded cast that includes Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious series, xXx series) in the title role, Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Sam Heughan (Outlander), Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver), Talulah Riley (Westworld), Johannes Haukur Johannesson (Game of Thrones), Lamorne Morris (New Girl, Game Night) and Alex Hernandez (Unreal).

The feature will be directed by Dave Wilson, who worked with Deadpool director Tim Miller at Blur Studios, directing cinematics for video games, including Halo 2, Mass Effect 2, and BioShock Infinite. Academy Award-nominated writer Eric Heisserer (Arrival, The Thing) has penned the script for the film, as well as another of the Sony/Valiant features, Harbinger.

Diesel will be reunited with producer Neal Moritz, who he has collaborated with on both The Fast and the Furious franchise and the first xXx film. Moritz’s other credits include 21 Jump Street and I Am Legend, plus another superhero film with The Green Hornet.