Oscar Watch 2013: ‘Leprechaun: Origins’ Casts WWE Star As Its Lead
Over the years, the WWE has sent various superstars from the wrestling mats to major Hollywood studios in hopes of sparking feature-film careers. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, John Cena, Hulk Hogan and, of course, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson all have had varying degrees of success on the silver screen. Now the diminutive wrestler Hornswoggle’s going to try and follow in their massive footsteps.
On his Twitter feed, @wwehornswoggle, the professional wrestler (whose real name is Dylan Postl) revealed that he’ll star in WWE Studios’ planned reboot of the ‘Leprechaun’ horror series, due out in theaters in March 2013. A thorough Oscar campaign no doubt will follow. Not content to let Twitter handle the enormity of the announcement, Hornswoggle also posted a YouTube message to his fans, which we’re lucky enough to be able to share below.
Swoggle, as he’s known to his friends, made his ‘SmackDown’ debut in 2006, playing the leprechaun partner of fellow Irish wrestler Finaly. Dressing as a leprechaun became his gimmick, so it only makes sense that he’d transition the character to the silver screen.
Postl also revealed that the movie’s title will be ‘Leprechaun: Origins,’ which I hope is a nod to ‘Wolverine: Origins’ and can be thought of as the first series in a lengthy exploration of the Leprechaun’s rich backstory. Is original ‘Leprechaun’ star Jennifer Aniston on board with this? We’d rather see her in ‘Origins’ than whatever rom-com she plans on unleashing next year.
What say you, WWE fans? Is Little Bastard the right man for this job? And are you more likely to pay to see ‘Leprechaun: Origins’ now that Hornswoggle’s in the lead? Let us know in the comments section below.