Ian McShane has joined the cast of Jack the Giant Killer, singlehandedly upping the badass quotient 30% on this retelling of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale.  Nicholas Hoults stars as a farm boy who "leads an expedition to free a princess (Eleanor Tomlinson) taken hostage by a giant, a situation that threatens the uneasy peace between humans and giants."  According to Heat Vision, McShane will play King Brahmwell, the princess' father who disapproves of his daughter's poor choice in poor men.  Stanley Tucci will play the villain of the film, a scheming adviser to the king.  Ewan McGregor is set as the leader of the king's guard.  Bill Nighy and John Kassir jointly portray the two-headed leader of the giants.  (Super cast, if you ask me.)

Bryan Singer (Valkyrie) will direct from a script by Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After).  Neal Moritz (The Green Hornet) and David Dobkin (Fred Claus) will produce.  McShane will next appear as Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which opens May 20.