EXCLUSIVE: Michael Peña will play the antagonist in Warner Bros’ live-action/aminated take on the classic cartoon, Tom & Jerry, which Tim Story is directing. Peña joins previously announced star Chloe Grace Moretz, who leads the film as Kayla, a new hire at an elegant Park Hotel where Jerry is staying. Worried for her job, she hires a broke alley cat, Tom, to get rid of the mouse.

Peña’s character, Terrance, is the deputy general manager of the hotel. A bit of bully, he hires Kayla as a temporary hire only to end up pitted against her and Tom/ Jerry once she starts impressing upper management.

The slapstick cat-and-mouse antics of Tom & Jerry have been around since 1940 when they were introduced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Between 1940 and 1958, the original Tom & Jerry series yielded 114 shorts and won seven Oscars in the animated short category. Television franchises, more shorts and a 1992 feature film, Tom & Jerry: The Movie would follow over the decades.

Chris DeFaria is producing this latest adaptation with Story and Adam Goodman as executive producers. Tom & Jerry arrives in theaters April 16, 2021.

CAA, Management 360 and attorney Rick Genow rep Peña, who stars in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico series and up next will Paramount’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Sony’s Fantasy Island remake.