Patrick Wilson joins the casts of both Midway and In the Tall Grass

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

I hope you're ready for a lot more Patrick Wilson (AQUAMAN) in your lives, because Deadline has reported that the actor has joined the cast of both Roland Emmerich's MIDWAY and Vincenzo Natali's IN THE TALL GRASS. As a big fan of Wilson, this comes as good news.

The Roland Emmerich movie is a big-budget World War II action flick which will tell the story of the famed Battle of Midway, considered by many to be a turning point in America’s battle against Japan. Six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. code-breakers were able to determine the time and place of another attack by the Japanese Navy which enabled the U.S. Navy to prepare its own ambush and defeat the Imperial Japanese Navy over the course of a four day battle. Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, and Luke Evans are already on board to star in MIDWAY and Patrick Wilson will be joining them as Edwin Layton, the rear admiral in the U.S. Navy who was a key intelligence officer during WWII. Luke Evans will play Commander Wade McClusky, who would go on to win a Naval Cross for his actions during Midway, Woody Harrelson will play Admiral Chester Nimitz, one of the officers who led the American naval fleet, and Mandy Moore's role hasn't yet been revealed. Roland Emmerich spoke about the film two years ago, saying that at the time of the battle, the Americans were the underdogs. "It was one of those moments where, against all odds, people came together and did the impossible," Emmerich said. "A lot of pilots died in this battle. I want to make a monument to them and it would be great to make a movie about it."

As for IN THE TALL GRASS, an adaptation of the Stephen King and Joe Hill novella of the same name, Patrick Wilson is actually stepping in as a replacement for James Marsden (Westworld), who was originally attached to the project before scheduling conflicts forced him out. IN THE TALL GRASS finds a brother and sister pulling off to the side of the road when they hear a young boy crying for help in a vast field of grass in Kansas. Venturing into the field, the siblings soon discover that there may be no way out and that something evil lurks within the tall grass. When the project was first announced, director Vincenzo Natali said:

Who would think that grass could be frightening? Trust Stephen King and Joe Hill to find a way. They have transformed an otherwise innocuous Kansas field into a stage for some of the most disturbing horror fiction I have ever read.

When the siblings attempt to rescue the boy, Vincenzo Natali said that "they discover that strange forces are at work. Space is warped so that one minute they are together and the next they are miles apart. The field is an ineffable maze from which there is no escape. Before long they have lost their bearings and each other. But they are not alone…" Can't wait. Patrick Wilson will next be seen AQUAMAN on December 21, 2018.