The Walking Dead star Michael Rooker is set for a leading role in Monster Problems, from Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy. In addition to playing Daryl Dixon’s bad guy brother Merle on TWD, Rooker also made a lot of fans for his portrayal of Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel. Yondu indeed became a central character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and his send-off gave the film an unexpectedly poignant touch.
Long before joining the MCU as the man who kidnapped Peter Quill, Rooker made a skin-crawling impression in his debut feature, the intense drama Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Rooker would make more memorable supporting appearances in big movies throughout the ’80s and ’90s, including Mississippi Burning, JFK, Cliffhanger and Tombstone. His movie career had largely dried up however by the time Frank Darabont enlisted him to play Merle in season 1 of The Walking Dead. Later, Merle would return to TWD as a minion of the villainous Governor.
As reported by Deadline, Rooker will once again find himself battling his way through the post-apocalypse, as he’s set to take on a starring role in the movie Monster Problems. Directed by Michael Matthews, the film is a coming of age story set in a post-apocalypse where monsters have overrun the earth. The film, produced by Stranger Things’ Levy, sees Rooker playing an expert hunter named Clyde who teaches survival skills to the film’s lead character Joel Dawson, who’s played by Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner). Reportedly, Paramount Players sees the film as a potential franchise starter.
Monster Problems is just the latest high-profile project to involve Levy after the breakout success of his Netflix series Stranger Things. On the directorial side of things, Levy will next tackle Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds as a bank teller who discovers he’s a character in an open world video game. Levy is also attached to the long-gestating sequel to John Carpenter’s Starman, as well as the sci-fi movie Crater. The producer-director will also make time to launch a new incarnation of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix. Of course, Levy’s Stranger Things is also getting set to return for a third season.
Given his track record as a genre producer and director with a horror bent, it’s not much of a surprise to see Levy once again conjuring monsters for his new movie Monster Problems. Fans of The Walking Dead’s Merle Dixon will no doubt be delighted to see Rooker back out there doing battle with post-apocalyptic creatures again, this time as the good guy (and hopefully with both hands intact).
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Source: Deadline
