Odd Thomas likes Lily Collins

We have been hearing casting rumours since early-February when Anton Yelchin landed the title role in Odd Thomas, and emerging from a long list of young starlets is Lily Collins, who has read for, and been extended an offer to play the female lead. Collins, daughter of singer/songwriter Phil, beat out a stellar shortlist that included Kat Dennings, Emma Roberts, Addison Timlin and Portia Doubleday to play Stormy Llewellyn, the girlfriend of Yelchin’s Thomas. Stephen Sommers is directing the supernatural thriller from his own screenplay that’s based on Dean Koontz’s bestseller of the same name. The director’s Sommer Co. will produce alongside John Baldecchi and Howard Kaplan’s Fusion Films banner. Production is currently set for May 2 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Gist: Pitched as Twilight meets Ghost, Odd Thomas is set in a California desert town where Thomas, a 20-year-old short-order cook with a love of writing and unfortunate clairvoyant abilities, aids the local police chief to solve violent cases. That is, until he encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.

Worth Noting: Following the success of the novel, Koontz penned three sequels (Forever Odd, Brother Odd and Odd Hours) and two graphic novels (In Odd We Trust and Odd Is On Our Side.) Smell a franchise? Sommers, who just wrapped up the G.I. Joe sequel, was also the man The Mummy/The Scorpian King series.

Do We Care?: Despite success at the box office, we’re hoping Sommers uses Odd Thomas to break away from the mantra he employed in his previous films which were consistently heavy on special effects and light on plot. His young, strong cast will certainly provide a catalyst for more dramatic fare.