Karate Kid-helmer Harold Zwart takes up directing duties on The Mortal Instruments

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

It’s been almost a year since we’ve penned anything about the film adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS. Maybe that’s because it was undergoing a major change behind the scenes.

When last we heard, Scott Stewart (PRIEST) was in line to helm the much-anticipated movie version of the popular book series. However, according to a press release from production company Constantin Film, those duties now fall on Harold Zwart. While not a player in the genre game, Zwart can direct a hit: His remake of THE KARATE KID grossed over $350 million worldwide a couple of years ago. (He also directed THE PINK PANTHER 2, but let’s all just forget about that.)

Lily Collins (MIRROR, MIRROR), who has been attached since the beginning, is still on board. However, it’s unclear whether Jamie Campbell Bower is still set to play the male lead, as his name is not mentioned at all in the press release. (He joined the film when Stewart was still in the mix last May.)

In the series’ first book “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray, discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother, Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures.

Principal photography is expected to begin August 15 in Toronto.

Lily Collins