Kevin Durand has signed on to play the role of the villain in director D.J. Caruso's I Am Number Four.

According to Variety, Kevin Durand is also in early negotiations to join Hugh Jackman in the film Real Steel.

He joins a cast that includes District 9 star Sharlto Copley and Alex Pettyfer.

Both productions are DreamWorks with Disney distributing.

I Am Number Four is based on a novel by James Frey and Joby Hughes and is about a group of aliens who escape to Earth after their planet was destroyed by another species only to realize they are now being hunted on Earth.

Alfred Gough and Miles Millar wrote the script.