"Superman Returns" star Brandon Routh is set to play the lead role in Arclight Films' "Dead of Night", a film version of the Italian "Dylan Dog" comic book series reports Comic Book Resources.

Created by Tiziano Sclavi, the London-set stories follow Dylan Dog a vegetarian penniless supernatural investigator with an Oedipus complex and many phobias. The character's look was inspired by British actor Rupert Everett.

David R. Ellis ("Cellular," "Final Destination 2") is directing from a screenplay by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly. Shooting on the $35 million project will begin shortly on location in Connecticut.