Boy, casting for Tyler Perry’s first turn as Alex Cross (to be directed by Rob Cohen) continues to get interesting.

Let’s catch ourselves up, shall we… first, Lost alumni, Matthew Fox was cast as the main antagonist; then actor/director Edward Burns was cast to play Tyler Perry’s (Alex Cross’) partner. And, finally, today, it’s been announced that Jean Reno (likely most popular for his role in Luc Besson’s Léon, aka The Professional), has joined the cast in a role that’s being reportedly “kept under wraps.” Why? I dunno…

I’ve read a couple of Alex Cross books, including the one that’s supposedly being adapted, and I can’t immediately place Reno in any role; although, from what I’ve read, this film won’t be a faithful adaptation to James Patterson’s 16th Alex Cross novel, rather an amalgamation of several of them. So, Reno’s “under wraps” character could be anybody. He could even be completely made up, and not an original character from the series of novels.

The short story for I, Alex Cross goes… Perry’s Cross partners up with Ed Burns to take on a vicious serial killer played by Matthew Fox.

Last we reported on this, Tyler claimed to be dropping body weight and adding muscle mass to his frame, in preparation for the role.

Production is scheduled to start in August, with a fall 2012 or early 2013 release date planned.