Rogue Pictures’ The Hitcher, from filmmaker Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company, has finalized its main cast with the addition of Zachary Knighton. The actor joins Sean Bean and Sophia Bush in the remake of the 1986 terror classic. Dave Meyers is directing the new film, which begins production this month.

Bay and Platinum Dunes’ Brad Fuller and Andrew Form are producing the new movie, from a screenplay by Jake Wade Wall and Eric Bernt. Rogue senior vice president of production Adrienne Biddle is overseeing the project for company co-presidents Andrew Karpen and Andrew Rona. Rogue will release The Hitcher, for which Focus Features International is handling overseas sales and distribution, in 2007.

The film tracks the terrifying cross-country trajectory of Jim (Knighton) and Grace (Bush), two traveling college students who are tormented by mysterious hitchhiker John Ryder, a.k.a. The Hitcher (Bean).

The Hitcher will mark Knighton’s first lead role in a feature, following supporting roles in The Prince & Me and The Mudge Boy, as well as a stint as a series regular on the sitcom Life on a Stick.

Platinum Dunes previously produced the hit remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (which was also handled overseas by Focus Features International) and The Amityville Horror.

In addition to The Hitcher, upcoming Rogue Pictures releases include Vondie Curtis Hall’s Waist Deep, starring Tyrese Gibson, Meagan Good, Larenz Tate, and The Game (which opens nationwide this month); Jet Li’s Fearless, starring Jet Li and directed by Ronny Yu; The Return, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar for director Asif Kapadia; Robert Ben Garant’s Balls of Fury, starring Dan Fogler, George Lopez, Maggie Q, and Christopher Walken; and Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, the new comedy from the Shaun of the Dead team.