Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons is in final negotiations to join the cast of the supernatural love story Beautiful Creatures, based on the New York Times best selling novel of the same name – the first of a hugely popular series written by authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl – it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.

Irons is the most recent in a flurry of casting announcements, joining Viola Davis (Amma), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Lincoln/Sarafine), Emmy Rossum (Ridley), Thomas Mann (Link) and relative newcomers Jack O’Connell (Ethan) and Alice Englert (Lena).

Irons will play the role of Macon Ravenwood, Lena’s mysterious and recluse uncle.

A hauntingly intense coming of age story set in the South, Beautiful Creatures is about two star-crossed teenage lovers, Ethan, a local boy, and a mysterious new girl, Lena, who uncover dark secrets about their families, their history and their town.

Erwin Stoff (Water for Elephants, I Am Legend) will produce along with Kosove and Johnson (The Blind Side, The Book of Eli) and Molly Smith (Something Borrowed, P.S. I Love You).

Filming begins next month in and around New Orleans with Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You) directing from his adaptation.

Irons is currently starring in the Showtime drama “The Borgias,” whose second season premieres next month and will next be seen in the CBS Films drama The Words, where he stars alongside Bradley Cooper, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana and Dennis Quaid.