The Colony has discovered its leader. Kevin Zegers has been hired as the lead actor in Jeff Renfroe’s The Colony, according to Deadline. He’ll star opposite Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton as survivors of a futuristic Ice Age who have to burrow under the ground to survive the gradual degradation of our society.

Haven’t heard of Zegers? That just means you (like me) don’t remember The Jane Austen Book Club or you never watched a lot of Gossip Girl, on which he played Damian Daalgard for nearly two years. But it appears that Zegers’ star is about to grow white-hot, as he’s featured prominently in the 12-part British mini-series Titanic: Blood and Steel, which will document the building of the ill-fated ship in Belfast by the White Star Lines. Zegers plays Mark Muir in the dramatic series, and will co-star alongside Derek Jacobi and Alessandra Mastronardi.

All of which might help The Colony once it finally reaches theaters, as Zegers could be a big(ger) star. Even so, with Fishburne and Paxton in place, Renfroe’s social drama has a fighting chance. Once people understand that it has to do with civilized humans collapsing into murderous, cannibalistic rages, I’m sure it will pique modern audiences’ attentions.

Patrick Tarr and Pascal Trottier co-wrote The Colony with Renfroe, who’ll direct. No word in the story as to when they’ll begin production, or when Renfroe would like to have his drama in theaters, but we’ll report back what we hear as soon as we hear it.