Lionsgate/WWE Films' new take on the Leprechaun franchise starring Hornswoggle is on its way. Check out the gold, but hands off!
St. Patrick's Day is long over, but some of the Irish luck has rubbed off into April. After a long wait, we've finally been given a movie poster for the upcoming Lionsgate/WWE Studios production of Leprechaun: Origins starring Dylan Postl, otherwise known as Hornswoggle. The film acts as a reboot for the franchise, which hasn't had a new entry since the sixth movie, Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, in 2003. It will be directed by Zach Lipovsky.
Hornswoggle will be playing the title character, the leprechaun Lubdan. As is his gimmick throughout the series, Lubdan is overly protective of his enchanted gold and will go through horrible, violent means to get back what is his if some greedy fool decides to run off with it. Little is really known about the plot of this movie outside of what the title tells us.
Here's the movie poster in all its golden glory.
The reboot was announced back in early 2012 and for a time, it was said that it would be coming out in March 2013. There's still yet to be an actual release date other than the claim that it will be out sometime this year. Other than the poster and the casting, the only piece of info we've been given is a sneak peek released by WWE's YouTube channel on March 17th. Just be warned, we don't get to see much of note.
The leprechaun role hits close to home for Postl, who has been playing the leprechaun gimmick of Hornswoggle in WWE since 2006. Originally called the Little Bastard, the vertically-challenged grappler has been used as a comedy character for much of his career, mostly skewing to the younger crowd while causing the older fans to grind their teeth at his antics. It didn't help that the commentators would happily cheer him on whenever he'd have to take part in a match, only to react like they just watch a puppy get run over the moment he's shoved down by his opponent. Then there's Little People's Court and the never-ending feud with Chavo Guerrero and the fact that he's the final Cruiserweight Champion and the storyline where he was Vince McMahon's long-lost son and... I'm getting sidetracked here.
This is his second major movie role after getting a small part in this year's Muppets Most Wanted. He only got one line and was constantly overshadowed by more well-known names like Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo, but it was something at least. Personally, I always thought his best role was the time he dressed up as a bear so "The Dazzler" Daniel Bryan could kick him in the junk (4:46 into the video).
On the subject of slasher movies under the WWE Studios banner that involve wrestlers murdering everyone, Kane is set to star in the straight-to-DVD release of See No Evil 2, also to see the light of day sometime this year. Personally, I always thought his best role was the time he dressed ups as a human beatbox so he could kick Hornswoggle out of defensive horror (3:42 into the video).
I haven't seen WWE Studios' current horror release Oculus, but if it has a scene of Karen Gillan kicking Hornswoggle via some kind of mirror magic, I'm so there.
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