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Casting Call: Spielberg’s Martin Luther King Jr. Biopic

By Christopher Campbell posted 6 months ago

Leonardo DiCaprio as Martin Luther King Jr.? Hey, as long as the Telegraph is reporting that Jamie Foxx is “in the running” to portray Frank Sinatra in the upcoming Scorsese-directed biopic about the singer/actor, why not also suggest Leo for the just-announced MLK bio from producer Steven Spielberg? Surely the actor is anxious to work again with his Catch Me if You Can director. And seeing as this is pure Oscar-fodder, and seeing as blackface can get people nominated these days, playing the civil rights leader may just be what the three-time Oscar nominee (and loser) needs to pull off in order to win the Academy Award.

Okay, we’re done with the jokes. Obviously this MLK biopic is super serious and needs to be cast as such. So, who will actually follow in the footsteps of former MLK portrayers Paul Winfield, LeVar Burton, James Earl Jones, Robert Guillaume and Jaleel “Urkel” White? Actually, Foxx might be a legitimate candidate for this one. But we’re going with an actor who has already played the civil rights leader. To find out who we pick for the lead role and the rest of the likely supporting characters, check out our completely serious casting suggestions after the jump.

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War Machine Remodeled. Trade Roughage 10/14/08

By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago

After being on track to be as perfect as the first film, Iron Man 2 has received a monkey wrench in the form of a recasting: for unspecified reasons (money), Terrence Howard will not reprise his role of Jim Rhodes, aka the future suited-hero War Machine, allowing Don Cheadle to replace him. While the same (or better) level of actor will be involved, the remodeling of the part is sure to be a little discomforting.
Universal will be the new distributor of DreamWorks films in a deal that everyone expected to happen. But just because it was inevitable doesn’t change how perfect the relationship is. For one thing, their Earth and moon logos fit together so well. And as a team, they’re like Elliot and E.T. riding that bike across the sky (but which studio is in the basket?). Sorry if that only makes sense to me.
Who knows what the markets will be like when the film is released, but Fox appears to be fast-tracking the sequel to Wall Street, titled Money Never Sleeps, which will see Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko released from prison into an unrecognizable financial world. 21 screenwriter Allan Loeb will be rewriting the film so expect the world to also be unrecognizable to most on Wall Street, as all the Asian traders will presumably be replaced by whites.
In news that is probably only exciting or interesting to me, the National Association of Theater Owners is breaking away from the dog and pony show known as ShoWest to begin a new yearly convention for the exhibition business. Hopefully NATO can use this opportunity for better progress in the industry before the studios turn it into just another celebration of Hollywood.