WIRE Buzz: Michael Rooker has Monster Problems; Opposite of Always gets big-screen treatment; more

First up in this edition of WIRE Buzz, we've got some exciting casting news for a potential monster movie franchise titled Monster Problems. Guardians of the Galaxy and The Walking Dead star Michael Rooker has landed a leading role in the project, according to Deadline.

Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) has already been cast in the film, which tells the story of an expert hunter named Clyde (played by Rooker) who has to teach O’Brien’s character Joel Dawson how to survive a massive monster apocalypse on Planet Earth. Helmed by director Michael Matthews (Five Fingers for Marseilles), the flick sure sounds like a lot of good fun, and could possibly ride on some of the excitement fellow monster movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters is currently building.

Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson have written the script, which is said to be a coming-of-age story about a boy surviving in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by monsters.

Next up, Deadline also reports that Paramount Players has struck a deal to adapt the YA novel Opposite of Always by author Justin A. Reynolds. In what sounds like the beginning of a version of Groundhog Day in reverse, the book plot concerns a boy named Jack who falls in love with Kate at a party.

Later, when Kate dies, Jack finds himself transported back to the beginning of their meeting, with Kate very much alive again. Wondering whether he’s lost his mind or now suddenly believes in time travel, Jack goes on a quest to keep Kate safe, without hurting others, as he finds out his actions changing the past have consequences.

The movie is being produced by Temple Hill, which handled all five Twilight films, so we’d say expect an action-packed YA adventure with this one.

And finally, Japanese animation movie Children of the Sea will be getting a North American release thanks to indie distributor GKIDS, who have acquired the title, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film, adapted from the adventure manga series of the same name, by Daisuke Igarashi, will be first released in Japan this June, and features a score by composer Joe Hisaishi, who scored the Studio Ghibli classic Spirited Away.

The story takes place in an aquarium, where the character Ruka meets two mysterious boys who have been raised by dugongs. The trio set off on an adventure as they get embroiled in the mystery of the global disappearance of the oceans' fish.