Taylor Kitsch Sits Down to Play BATTLESHIP with Director Peter Berg

Taylor Kitsch (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is lining up another big franchise by taking the lead role in Peter Berg’s upcoming adaptation of the board game Battleship.  According to Heat Vision, Kitsch will play Naval commander Alex Hopper who is described as “wildly spirited” and “a great seaman but a lousy politician.”  The script, written by Jon and Erich Hoeber, centers on an international armada who must fend off an alien attack.  Since Kitsch is known for having his roguish charm explode off the screen and onto the audience’s face, the role of a wildly spirited seaman should fit him like a latex glove.

As we previously reported, Oscar-nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) was up for the role but decided to star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming religious drama alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Battleship could be a second massive franchise for Kitsch as the actor has already signed to play the title character in John Carter of Mars.  Based off the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs book series, the John Carter series is intended to be the first part of a trilogy.  If Fox ever begins moving ahead with a Gambit movie, we may need to clone the guy.