LOS ANGELES - David Tennant, best known for starring in the BBC series "Doctor Who," and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are joining the cast of "Fright Night," a remake of the cult 1985 film.

Anton Yelchin stars as Charlie, a teen convinced that his new neighbor (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Toni Collette is the teen's disbelieving mom, who falls under the vampire's spell.

Tennant will play Peter Vincent, a character who in the original movie was played by Roddy McDowall as the host of a late-night horror show. In the remake, he's a Las Vegas magician whose show revolves around horror-movie imagery. Vincent claims to be a vampire expert, but when the teen turns to him for assistance, he's less than helpful.

Mintz-Plasse is playing Evil Ed, Yelchin's friend who feels slighted that Charlie has left his nerdy past behind and thus joins the vampire's coven.

The DreamWorks movie marks the first real foray into America for Tennant. He starred in the NBC pilot "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer," but it did not get picked up.

Mintz-Plasse, meanwhile, is continuing to show that there is life after McLovin, the character he played in his acting debut in "Superbad." He recently was onscreen as the Red Mist in "Kick-Ass."