Los Angeles - X-Men heartthrob James Marsden is to take on a role made famous by Dustin Hoffman in a remake of the classic thriller Straw Dogs, according to the Hollywood Reporter Friday.

The 1971 original was directed by Sam Peckinpah and sparked controversy for its violent content. It featured Hoffman as a pacifist professor in country retreat who fights a brutal conflict with the locals who resent his intellectual attitude and with whom his wife enjoys flirting with.

For the remake by director Rod Lurie, Marsden will play a Los Angeles screenwriter who relocates with his wife to the deep south where tensions build in their marriage and with the locals.

Besides X-Men, Marsden had starred in Enchanted, 27 Dresses, Hairspray and Superman Returns.