Last week, we reported that I Am Number Four star Alex Pettyfer was mulling over starring in the feature film adaptation of another teen fantasy/adventure series, The Mortal Instruments. Well, now it looks like he may have ditched that series in favor of yet another teen fantasy/adventure series. Apparently he’s now been offered the starring role in Joseph Delaney’s The Last Apprentice series (known as The Wardstone Chronicles in the UK), which centers on a young boy in the 1700’s training to be an exorcist.Vulture reports that Jeff Bridges and Winter’s Bone star Jennifer Lawrence are also circling roles in the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures production. Bridges would play Pettyfer’s mentor, while Lawrence would take on the role of a suspected witch. Russian director Sergey Bodrov (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan) will helm the film. Apparently Pettyfer was a fan of the Mortal Instruments series, but likes The Last Apprentice even more. However, at this point Pettyfer is not officially attached to either project. It seems that he’s (wisely) taking his time in choosing which series he wants to tackle next. Hit the jump to read the synopsis of the first novel in the The Last Apprentice series, Revenge of the Witch.the-last-apprentice-revenge-of-the-witch-book-coverHere’s the synopsis of Revenge of the Witch:

Twelve-year-old Thomas Ward, as the seventh son of a seventh son, has no inheritance and is bored with farm work, and even though his new job will mean the superstitious villagers will forever shun him, he is eager to go off to adventure with the tall, hooded man he calls the Spook. His mother, a magical person herself, approves, and the Spook's teaching is strict but kind. But when Tom has only learned enough to be able to control their house-boggart, he is tricked by Alice, the young daughter of a witch family, into inadvertently releasing and then killing Mother Malkin, a witch the Spook has imprisoned in a pit. This is no polite wicca-type witch, but a snuffling, slime-trailing, cannibalistic creature reminiscent of Tolkien's nasgils. The story of Tom's escape from the reincarnated witch's hideous revenge is full of horrible details, as Alice helps, and then once again betrays him. This well-crafted novel marks an auspicious start for an exciting and fast series for young teens. [Amazon]