OT - Recast your favorite movie/tv show
Stuck at home with a sick baby, watching the IMDB series on roles that were turned down. In Game of Thrones, Mark Strong, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West, and Brian Cox all turned down roles. Even Emilia Clarke wasn't the first Daenerys to be picked to play the role. Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in Matrix.
If you could recast your favorite movie/tv show, who would you replace?
February 26th, 2019 at 7:11 PM ^
Substitute Christian Slater for Michael Keaton and Batman (1989) becomes Batman fighting his inner monologue. Which is really what the Batman and Joker dynamic is all about.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
Got a couple:
1) Adrian Brody as Luca Changretta in Peaky Blinders was a god-awful miscast. I'm not hating on Adrian Brody. He's a great actor. Was just the wrong role for him. Changretta is supposed to be a vengeful, intimidating mafioso coming thousands of miles for cold-blooded revenge, and Brody just doesn't have that kind of style as an actor. He was not at all convincing in that role. Maybe a cunning consilgiere, but not a brutish footsoldier. He's still this tall, gangling, awkward looking guy no matter what role you give to him. Kind of ruined the last season of PB for me.
2) Sofia Coppola in Godfather III. I guess when you're the director's daughter you really don't need to know how to act. Godfather III would've been way behind Part I and II even if she performed well, but my god was she awful in that movie. Just so lifeless and phony. Never seen someone pretend to die in a movie worse than she did.
3) Hayden Christensen in AOTC and ROTS. I partially blame this on George Lucas' terrible writing, by the way he portrayed Anakin was less of the tortured, conflicted soul he should've been, and more of an awkward adolescent creep. His dialogue between he and Padme was just so cheesy and uncomfortable to listen to.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:07 PM ^
I believe Winona Ryder was supposed to be in Godfather III. She got in some sort of legal trouble and Coppola had to scramble to fill her role. Still seems like he could have found someone better than Sofia.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Ryder was cast in the role of Mary Corleone, but dropped out at the last minute on the advice of her doctor after being diagnosed with exhaustion. Another actress who was under consideration for the part was Rebecca Schaeffer, but she was murdered by a stalker before she got a chance to audition. Julia Roberts was at one point cast for the role, but she had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict and Madonna campaigned to be cast, but Francis Ford Coppola felt she was too old to play the role.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:09 PM ^
I don't think any cast changes in Godfather III could or would have made a difference
February 26th, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
Godfather III gets a bad rap because it suffers from comparison to arguably two of the greatest movies ever made, but it's not a terrible film.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:59 PM ^
Weren't the Barbarian brothers from DC Cab in Godfather III as hitmen?
February 27th, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
Not only was she cast, but she reported for the first day of shooting in Rome, fresh off having wrapped up Mermaids. I think she had even filmed another movie immediately before Mermaids, so Gofdather 3 was going to be her third consecutive movie without a break. The night before she was scheduled to film her first scenes, she had some sort of medical episode, and the doctor who examined her told her point blank, "If you go through with this movie, you will die."
Meanwhile, casting for the role of Mary Corleone had been a misfortune-plagued disaster from the start. Julia Roberts, Annabella Sciorra, and Laura San Giacomo had scheduling conflicts. Madonna was too old. Rebecca Schaeffer was murdered the morning of her audition. It took some convincing by Coppola for Ryder to agree to accommodate Godfather 3's shooting schedule, and the only reason he made such a big push for her is that he was running out of options. It's common practice for directors to keep a backup actor/actress for major roles on retainer for such contingencies, and in this case Coppola didn't have a backup. He was hoping and praying that the worst-case scenario wouldn't play out, and yet it did.
Sofia Coppola just happened to be visiting her dad in Rome at the time, and she went there having no idea that she would wind up playing Mary Corleone in the movie. Francis cast her when Ryder dropped out because he literally had no other option. She had something like two weeks to prepare for the role because that was all the time Coppola could buy with the producers at Paramount, who were already annoyed that shooting was running behind schedule. Just an unfortunate situation for everyone involved.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
Hayden wasn't that bad. Especially now that we see how bad Star Wars movies and scripts can really be with the new trilogy. The Last Jedi was the worst movie I've ever seen. Hayden's script was really bad but I thought he did a good job portraying a conflicted young Darth Vader. The Padme stuff was obviously more from Lucas. And TBH, I think that portrayal of a clingy/creepy Anakin better explains his transformation. It took that weird obsession for him to abandon the light side completely. It allowed him to be easily manipulated. But I do agree that it was just really awkward to watch on the screen.
I'm a prequels child so I enjoyed those movies. Phantom Menace is actually a good movie.Like they at least tried to develop a slightly more complex story than just a tyrannical Govt. and some people fighting back. The political story was a goods change of pace considering the times they were in where the sith were in hiding. And Revenge of the Sith was a pretty good ending for the trilogy.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
I haven't seen The Last Jedi, but it's hard to imagine a Star Wars film worse than Attack of the Clones. Everybody hates Hayden Christensen in that movie, but that script was so bad it made Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor look like shitty actors too.
I remember sitting through that movie trying to figure out where this story was going when all the Jedi suddenly showed up to fight in one giant melee and realized that the entire fucking movie was about creating this stupid, contrived fanboy moment. I've never been able to enjoy Star Wars all that much since.
February 26th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
Yeah attack of the clones wasn’t good. The yoda vs dooku fight was worth watching. But everything else was really weird. The clone planet Kamino was odd. But don’t watch the last Jedi. It will infuriate you especially if you watch it more than once. The plot makes no sense. They completely abandoned everything they built up in force awakens to try and “subvert expectations” but the whole movie is dogshit. I think phantom menace was the best of those three and I enjoy it more than a new hope. But that’s me being from a different generation of most Star Wars fans. A late 90s child
February 26th, 2019 at 2:29 PM ^
These are pretty good choices.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:45 PM ^
Will Smith in the matrix would have been just terrible
February 26th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^
Agree and same with Travolta in Forrest Gump. That would have been a disaster.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
Travolta as Forrest Gump would have been a disaster. Essentially, any role Tom Hanks is casted in is the perfect casting decision!
February 26th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
After watching the Leah Remini After Scientology show of A&E it's tough for me to watch anything with Travolta and Cruise in it without cringing.
Just how fucking dumb to you have to be to be a Scientologist?
February 26th, 2019 at 6:11 PM ^
RiffTrax has a glorious version of Battlefield Earth. They pretty much come to the same conclusion as you. The nice thing is, they're not even afraid to call it out by name -- Scientologists have been known to file many a defamation suit.
February 26th, 2019 at 9:27 PM ^
Thanks I like Rifftrax , I will check it out.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
Angela Bassett as Storm in the original X-men movie would have been awesome. Total missed opportunity.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
I’d like to see The Deer Hunter with Rob Schneider in for De Niro and David Spade in for Christopher Walken.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
I know you are joking, but I do believe Deer Hunter is the most perfectly cast movie ever.
February 26th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
It is.
And the Russian Roulette scene...SO TENSE.
February 26th, 2019 at 6:24 PM ^
Well, except Meryl Streep.
She was all wrong for that role.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:10 PM ^
I'd put myself as Hank in Monster's Ball. Halle Berry still plays Leticia. No particular reason
February 26th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
I would like to recast Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. She's such a meh actor. I guess they were just going with who looked like Captain Marvel from the comics the most, which is of course understandable.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:24 PM ^
Titanic, starring Ohio State as the ship.
February 27th, 2019 at 5:28 AM ^
And the female lead survives by climbing onto a floating cooler.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:52 PM ^
I would remake one of the most underappreciated movies of all time ........Hudson Hawk!
No, I'm serious.
Just change the love interest of the main character into his partner in crime, add fresh relevant music and turn the "search for gold" into the search for free energy.
Keep all the snarky, anti-authoritarian, conspiracy rhetoric since it fits much better in today's world.
A heist scene choreographed to Eric B and Rakim's "Paid in Full".
February 26th, 2019 at 3:09 PM ^
Hudson Hawk is underappreciated. James Coburn and Richard E. Grant are fucking great in that movie.
"God, I miss Communism. The Red Threat, people were scared... the agency had some respect, and I got laid every night."
February 26th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
No doubt! You wouldn't even have to re shoot the scenes with the Mtv.I.A. or the Mayflowers.
"Bunnie! Ball Ball!"
February 26th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Bobcat Goldthwait and Gilbert Gottfried for True Detective. Actually for every show.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:01 PM ^
The show doesn’t matter.
Give every role to Sofia Vergara
February 26th, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
Saved by the Bell
Starring:
Ignas Brazdeikis as: Zack Morris
Magglio Ordonez as: A.C. Slater
Mark Zuckerberg as: Screech Powers
Bill O'Reilly as: Mr. Belding
Alexandra Daddario as: Kelly Kapowski
Annalynn McCord as: Jessie Spano
Skai Jackson as: Lisa Turtle
February 26th, 2019 at 3:37 PM ^
Kevin James for Kevin Spacey in House of Cards
February 26th, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
Izzo as gollum in LOTR. Granted, he's a bit stout to play the roll but he has all the impressions down right and the raspy voice
February 26th, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^
M*A*S*H but with the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Klinger - Mac
Radar- Charlie
Frank - Liam McPoyle
Hawkeye - Dennis
Hot Lips- Dee
Henry - Frank
Father Mulcahy - Cricket
February 26th, 2019 at 6:07 PM ^
Another miscast from Godfather III is George Hamilton. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they dropped Robert Duvall and killed off his character because he wanted top-billing and the money that goes with it.
Horrible choice. Pay the man his money! I couldn't help thinking how much better his scenes would be over KFC Colonel Extra Crispy.
February 26th, 2019 at 6:27 PM ^
They should have used Keanu Reeves instead of Andy Garcia
February 26th, 2019 at 6:52 PM ^
Whoa....
February 27th, 2019 at 12:32 AM ^
Duvall wanted more money than Paramount was willing to pay. He didn't necessary care about top billing and he was fine with Pacino making more money than him, but he was insulted by their offer. He also wasn't impressed with the script and didn't particularly care for the project from an artistic perspective. In his view, the fact that they waited almost 15 years to make the third installment and strayed from the novel meant that it was a pure money grab. So if they were going to make a third Godfather film as a pure money grab, he wanted a bigger chunk of the money than he was being offered.
Supposedly, the story in the original script revolved around Michael's relationship with Tom Hagen. When Duvall walked, Coppola entertained the idea of casting someone else as Tom Hagen. But ultimately, he decided to replace Hagen with the BJ Harrison character and re-wrote the script to minimize the role of that character.
February 26th, 2019 at 6:31 PM ^
Leonard Nimoy as '66 Batman
Shatner as '66 Robin
Adam West as Captain Kirk
Burt Ward as Spock
February 26th, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
I have to think about specifics, but Adrien Brody is an incredibly underrated actor and deserves a lot more roles
February 27th, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
Lorne Michaels would like to have a word with you.
February 26th, 2019 at 6:51 PM ^
Jennifer carpenter as Dexter’s sister not sure with who just not her.
February 26th, 2019 at 9:32 PM ^
Jordan Poole as Woody.
February 26th, 2019 at 10:23 PM ^
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Replace Erin Gray with Jaclyn Smith.
February 26th, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^
You know who would have been great as Mary Corleone in Godfather 3? Winona Ryder.
February 27th, 2019 at 7:53 AM ^
You know who would have been great as Don Corleone in the Godfather? Mr. Rogers. Would have had a different story arc.
February 27th, 2019 at 9:53 AM ^
Godfather 1
Godfather 2
February 27th, 2019 at 1:20 PM ^
Leave Kate Holmes as Rachel in The Dark Knight instead of replacing her with Maggie Gyllenhaal