Danny Huston (The Constant Gardener, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette) will play the leader of the vampires in 30 Days of Night, Columbia Pictures' adaptation of the horror comic book, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story takes place in an Alaskan town where 30 days of continual winter darkness attracts a horde of hungry vampires. Josh Hartnett and Melissa George already are cast as a husband-and-wife sheriff team who try to save the town's residents.

David Slade (Hard Candy) is directing from a script by Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) and Brian Nelson.

Shooting is scheduled to begin this month in New Zealand.