Anyway, Stone originally wanted Jennifer Lawrence but she had to go and accept the lead role in what could be a new major franchise - The Hunger Games. Now the Oscar winning filmmaker has another blond in mind with the lovely Lively, though the Green Lantern starlet has other conflicts to face before she can sign up for the gig. Lively is also in contention for a big role in Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great and Powerful as the Good Witch of the East, and let’s be honest: Lively looks like a good witch. The fate of the film's intended June start date rests on whether or not Stone can cast the wild-child female lead Ophelia in time, so if Lively passes he may be forced to go back to the drawing board for the character (he’s also considering Teresa Palmer and Olivia Wilde).
In any event, Savages follows two Laguna beach pot dealers forced to work for a Mexican cartel after the girlfriend they share is kidnapped (kinky). Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch are in talks for the two weed men and that’d be one hell of threeway. Which is exactly what Lumiere had in mind when he invented the motion picture. Thanks Mr. Stone!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
It seems like MGM and Jose Padihla are looking for a big name to take Peter Weller's iconic role in their upcoming RoboCop reboot. Rumor has it that Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves are all being considered for the role, but even if that's true, we can't really know if any of them will likely take the role. Personally, I think they're all too niche to take it, but it seems that when it comes down to it, MGM wants someone recognizable in that suit.
I'm not really sure why they want such a big name headlining the reboot; the name should speak for itself. Padihla is looking to do a complete reboot, departing from the original, but there's really little insight as to why a name like Depp or Cruise would help that. Not to mention the idea that names like this are likely to not be attracted to this sort of project. You tend to look for names on their way up in these instances -- hello, Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man or Henry Cavill as Superman. As Screenrant points out, this may be a move to focus the story more on Alex Murphy before he becomes RoboCop to separate this rendition from the originals, but even if that's the case, big names aren't necessarily the answer. If they're looking to rely on back story, they should seek out up-and-comers or guys on the cusp of mega-stardom. With a franchise as well-known as RoboCop, adding in a name that many viewers have a preformed opinion about when they're likely to also hold strong opinions about the franchise itself is just too much. Give us an Ian Somerhalder or even a Jeremy Renner (though on second thought, he's in too many movies right now, let's give him a rest).
Audiences will go to the theater because of the hold the original has on them. Adding a big name will only serve as confusion, and likely, a point of contention for fans.
