Category: Fantasy Film Casting

Let’s Recast a Film

You know how us film fans always want to recast a film, well today we play the role of producer and this script has turned up on our desk. The next job is to cast the film as if it the year is 2016, the rules are as simple you can’t use anyone who is in the original film however good or bad you think the film is. So without further ado let’s cast this movie.

Film: Van Helsing

Original Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham,

New Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bruce Campbell

Why I have picked this star:

Hugh Jackman – Jake Gyllenhaal – Van Helsing Jake can bring the smart side back to Van Helsing, we don’t need a wise one-line cracking hero for this role. Jake has proven he has the ability to morph into nearly any role put on front of him and this will give us the chance to have the average guy in this role which is was always meant to be.

Kate Beckinsale – Rebecca Ferguson – Anna Valerious Rebecca came from nowhere in 2015 to become one of the hottest names in Hollywood with her role in Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, she proved she can handle weapons, combat as well holding her own as a leading character on screen. She can bring her accent to the role as the sexy vampire hunter with a past that is covered in mystery.

Richard Roxburgh – Benedict Cumberbatch – Count Vladislaus Dracula Benedict is my perfect choice for this role because to me Dracula should be an over posh mystical character which Benedict should be able to pull off with ease.

David Wenham – Bruce Campbell – Carl Bruce is a strange choice for this role but personally I would like Carl to be an older who has been through the battles against the creatures with Van Helsing, he does need a couple of laughs which Bruce is the master of giving us.

How will this change the film: This choices of casting make me want to see a much more serious film, we will get a few laughs from Carl still but we will have a determined Van Helsing who doesn’t need one-liners and is only out to get the job done, he will have an attitude to everyone’s not believing in the creatures he battles making this a much darker movie than the one we are used to seeing.

Will you be going to see this new version of the film?
Who would you rather see in this film?

Let’s Recast a Film

You know how us film fans always want to recast a film, well today we play the role of producer and this script has turned up on our desk. The next job is to cast the film as if it the year is 2016, the rules are as simple you can’t use anyone who is in the original film however good or bad you think the film is. So without further ado let’s cast this movie.

Film: Shaun of the Dead

Original Cast: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Peter Serafinowicz

New Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Amy Poehler, Amber Tamblyn, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson

Why I have picked this star:

Simon Pegg – Steve Carell – Shaun Shaun is a worker but slacker if I am not mistaken and who better to take this role than the man who led the Office for all those years. We know Carell can play the straight comedy and move into another genre with ease making him my ideal choice to lead this film.

Nick Frost – Jason Segel – Ed Ed is the flat out slacker easily getting distracted and believing anything bad will just blow over. Ed needs to be a bigger guy that Shaun and I see Jason as a great choice, sure he isn’t as lazy looking but he could pull this off with ease making him a great choice for the partnership in comedy here.

Kate Ashfield – Amy Poehler – Liz Liz is the on again off again girlfriend of Shaun, this character needs to be a strong character and why not have the strongest comical force in America. Amy has the ability to move into plenty of different comedy styles which is need in this role.

Lucy Davis – Amber Tamblyn – Dianne Dianne might only be a supporting character but she is outside hippie like character. After seeing Amber in Two and a Half Men and a variety of other roles it appears she has the ability to work in any comedy film and needs that chemistry with David’s character.

Dylan Moran – Will Arnett – David David is the boyfriend of Dianne who is easily the least likable character in the film. His character never really fits in with the rest and I feel Will could easily do this character who is always trying to be the main character in the film.

Peter Serafinowicz – Rainn Wilson – Pete Pete is the stuck up flat mate of Shaun and Ed, this needs a serious comical actor to play the role and Rainn is brilliant at playing the serious role in a comedy movie.

How will this change the film: It is clear that I am turning this into an American comedy which is one change I will be bringing into the film. I do think the overall story could be the same with the only changes being setting it in Boston and just for fun have the survivors trying to get to Cheers Bar. This might seem silly but the idea is to get to an iconic bar. I do think the sense of comedy will change but this seems like a good concept for the American version of Shaun of the Dead.

Will you be going to see this new version of the film?
Who would you rather see in this film?

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Fantasy Casting

Over 20 years have passed since this classic came out in 1995 and there is no doubt it is one of the best crime thrillers ever made, with the ending that shocked everyone. For this selection I am playing the fantasy casting card where I will pick all seven leading roles from stars of today. The idea is that I am the producer given this script to select the stars that would suit the roles. One rule is I can’t consider any of the original cast members even if certain roles could still be filled by the original cast. This is a hard choice because the original cast all give fantastic performances.

Film: The Usual Suspects

New Stars: Matthew Fox, Mark Wahlberg, Colin Farrell, Ben Foster, Mark Ruffalo, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Daniel Bruhl

Replacing: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Pete Postlethwaite and Chazz Palminteri

Why I have picked this stars

Stephen Baldwin – Matthew Fox – McManus – McManus always made me feel like he came off slightly on edge but also well-spoken. After seeing Bone Tomahawk mixing in the Alex Cross performance I can see Matthew Fox being the perfect choice for this role.

Gabriel Byrne – Mark Wahlberg – Keaton – Keaton is the character I always see as the leader of the five-man team, I have chosen Wahlberg because we know he can be an important scene stealer with a large cast after The Departed. He has the range to play out all the emotions need through the film that this character needs.

Benicio Del Toro – Colin Farrell – Fenster – Fenster is the lady’s man of the group and with his accent he stands out from the rest of the crew, Colin with his Irish accent and different dress style could make him stand out in this role. True Detective season 2 showed he can pull off the serious roles and his crime roles he has experience in this style of films.

Kevin Pollak – Ben Foster – Hockney – Hockney is the loose cannon of the group and who better to play the modern day loose cannon than Ben Foster who has a reputation of play some of the strangest and crazy normal look people.

Kevin Spacey – Mark Ruffalo – Verbal – Verbal is the most important character in the film, he is our story teller who never looks like he could be part of the crew. I see Mark being someone who can tell the story on the same level as Spacey keeping the nervous tone in the character.

Chazz Palminteri – Chiwetel Ejiofor – Dave Kujan – Dave is the detective trying to get to the bottom of what really happened, I see Chiwetel as the right guy for this as we have seen him be back up to bigger named stars as detectives so he would be ready to become the lead one and his ability with his reaction in the final scene would work very well.

Pete Postlethwaite – Daniel Bruhl – Kobayashi – Kobayashi really is the smooth man from overseas that is the connection between the infamous Keyser Soze. We can have Daniel keep his accent for this role to make this his own character.

How will this change the film: I personally wouldn’t change the film too much, the only changes would be to make Hockney slightly crazier, Kobayashi even more mysterious and Dave slightly calmer.

I will give the same disclaimer that I don’t want to see his remade this is just for fun as The usual Suspects in one of my favourite films.

Will you be going to see this new version of the film?
Who would you rather see in this film?

Let’s Recast a Film

You know how us film fans always want to recast a film, well this is my latest project where I pick stars and replace them for a new film. Some of these are going to be serious choice while others will just be for comical reason. If you have a film you want me to recast leave us a comment below and I will come up with my own spin on the film.

For this film I am going to treat it as if it was getting a full remake and recast 3 characters with up to date characters, mainly because it is one film that had near perfect casting first time around and changing anyone would just be wrong. I will also point out I do NOT ever want this remade this is all just for fun.

Film: The Silence of the Lambs

New Stars: Idris Elba, Emily Blunt and Elijah Wood

Replacing: Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster and Ted Levine

What they will offer:

Idris Elba

·         Can play smarter than everyone character.

·         Charismatic, if slightly rough around the edges.

·         Strong screen presences.

·         Well spoken.

Emily Blunt

·         Strong Female character seen in Sicario, Edge of Tomorrow and Looper.

·         Has the ability to pick up an accent.  

Elijah Wood

·         Has the everyday person look needed.

·         Can also have a dark side.

·         Is willing to take risky roles.

Why I have picked these stars: I have pick these actors and will go through each one at a time.

Idris Elba – Hannibal Lector. I believe Idris holds all the skills to play the well-spoken doctor, he comes off full of the charisma needed to play Hannibal. I do think his slow talking style could work on the same level as Hopkins but in his own style. He can dominate the screen when need because remember Hannibal isn’t actually in the film as much as the rest of the cast.

Emily Blunt – the role of Clarice has already been recast in the past with Julianne Moore taking over the role and I have gone with an actress who much like Foster and Moore has a similar look. Blunt has proven herself in leading strong female roles in recent years with Sicario, Edge of Tomorrow and Looper giving us full faith she can go face to face with Elba for the famous interaction.

Elijah Wood – Buffalo Bill is one of the most underrated villains of film history because most people forget that he is actually the person they are after in Silence of the Lambs. He is dangerous because he is an everyday man that has the socially awkward tendency. Elijah has given us this performance in Maniac and Open Windows making him a perfect choice for this role. You can see him pulling off the dance routine and while Ted Levine was a big physical presence this character doesn’t need to be.

Why I haven’t picked other cast members: I have pick only these three to look at because they are the most important characters in the film and it will be easy to cast the rest if we were to remake this.

How will this change the film: I would like to be know that I am taking a slight new twist on the story, I can’t see a straight copy remake happening so I am going to try and make this slightly darker. I see the Buffalo Bill character being having a smarter technology knowledge but also just as dark if not darker in this role. Hannibal will become rougher around the edges but still just as smart, he will also come off friendlier before attacking his victims. Clarice will be very similar as first time out, I would to think Emily would make her stronger not showing any weakness but I see her playing into Hannibal’s games.

Finally, just a disclaimer, I will repeat once more that I don’t want this film remade this is just for fun.

Will you be going to see this new version of the film?
Who would you rather see in this film?

Let’s Recast a Film

You know how us film fans always want to recast a film, well this is my latest project where I pick one star to add or replace another in a film. Some of these are going to be serious choice while others will just be for comical reason. If you have a film you want me to recast leave us a comment below and I will come up with my own spin on the film.

Film: Pixels

New Star: Ben Stiller

Replacing: Adam Sandler

What they will offer:

·         Smarter humour

·         Better supporting comical actors

·         Believable in Comedy

·         Still Funny

Why I have picked this star: One of the biggest complaints about Pixels is Adam Sandler’s humour throughout, it goes against the world the characters are meant to be a part of. When you look at Sandler’s previous works he has only worked with CGI a couple of times and all highly criticised work in Bedtime Stories, Click and Little Nicky. Ben Stiller on the other hand has been part of the hugely popular Night at the Museum franchise where he has to work with CGI creations throughout, Ben also has the ability to blend into many different comical roles be it serious dead pan, over the top (Tropic Thunder), even villainous comedy (Dodgeball). While I am only recasting Ben you would think if he was involved in this film he would bring the rest of his Frat Pack into the film. I would also like to believe that Ben could have bought in a mix of his comedic styles which could have made the leading character have actual emotions.

Why I haven’t picked other cast members: It wouldn’t be difficult to recast this whole film to improve it the one character I always hear people talk about replacing would be Kevin James as the president, I personally found this funny casting choice because his character reminded me of the time when George W Bush was President. As for the rest of the supporting cast with the right lead they might just work, so I will leave them all there for now.

How will this change the film: Ben will bring a sensible level of comedy to this film, he won’t turn to lazy jokes giving us a mature comedy performance that will still be popular for all ages to enjoy this film. If I was to bring one of his characters into this film it would have to be Larry from Night at the Museum.

In conclusion I have pick an actor that would make Pixels a better film experience all around one for all to enjoy.

Will you be going to see this new version of the film?
Who would you rather see in this film?