Comic Book Movie Casting Scoop Explosion

I know how they do it and I wish I could do it too, but I don't have what so much of what they have - that is, a couple of really good inside sources happy to spill the beans.

Latino Review have recently run a little molehill of comic book movie casting scoops - and, frankly, a couple of them are very disquieting.

First of all, Ray Stevenson has been cast as Frank Castle in the new Punisher film. Since John Dahl walked away from that one I've lost all personal interest, but if I did still care, I don't know how happy I'd be about Stevenson at all. Oh well. He might do a wonderful job. We'll all have to wait and see.

And then they confirm Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach in Zack Snyder's Watchmen. I think we've all sort of settled down and bedded in with this idea by now, haven't we? He's not Paddy Considine, but he's not a bad choice. Not by any means.

But finally... they announced the casting of another Watchmen character. Laurie Juspeczyk, the Silk Spectre, will apparently be played by Malin Akerman.

That seems to support the stories about the budget shrinkage and the casting become less and less... er... ambitious. Casting unknowns is one thing, casting... er... less capable performers is another.

I wish Ms. Akerman the best of luck. She'll need it. And so will Snyder, if he wants to come out of this one with his reputation intact.

Rorschach Cast

According to Paddy Considine, the role of Rorschach in The Watchmen has been cast and... no, not with Considine himself. He was attached when Paul Greengrass was directing. Now Zack Snyder is in charge, the man in the mask is apparently set to be Jackie Earle Haley. Considine made the following statement on the forum of his site:

Alas, Watchmen will not be mine. They have gone out to Jackie Earle Haley. That's news folks!

This story came up before, if you recall, but the source wasn't as supposedly trustworthy as an actor (previously) linked to the production.

Thanks to the hordes who e-mailed details of this story over.

Keanu Reeves? Are They MAD?

Aint it Cool have some Watchmen casting scoops and...

Well, first of all, let's have the worst news. Keanu Reeves has been offered the role of Dr. Manhattan. No no no no no no. That's awful. Dreadful. Catastrophic. Listen, I like Keanu just fine, really - he was spot-on for Thumbsucker and, well, there's no doubt that Bill and Ted were both perfectly cast. This, though... foolish. It seems like Manahattan's demeanour has been confused for that of a cod-zen stoner - the kind of mistake only a stoner could make. And one would think quite an arrogant stoner too.

How incredibly frustrating.

Secondly, Jude Law has been offered the role of Ozymandias. Not so terrible, but not exactly a perfect move. I think we knew Tom Cruise wasn't going to get the part, but in an ideal world he would have. There are many, many worse choices than Jude Law, however.

And finally - and this is probably the least troubling to me - is the casting of Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg.

There's a long standing rumour (in my circles, anyway) that Jackie Earle Haley is going to play Rorschach, so that might make for two Little Children in the cast. What about Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly too? Are there perfect fits for them, do you think?

That'd be odd. But it would make for a good pub quiz question.

Watchmen Casting

On Thursday night, I was at the UK premiere of 300. There's plenty to be said about that - about the film, about the after-party, about how Lena Headey was far too slight and fragile looking to look like a sensible Sarah Connor - but I'm busy today, and that longer post will have to wait. How does Monday sound to you?

Here, though, in the meantime, is a brief cluster of Watchmen casting snippets.

After the premiere, Zack Snyder faced plenty of questions from guests. Poor chap was just trying to relax and enjoy the night, but plenty of people had the same line of questioning. Did anybody manage to find out even the slightest bit of Watchmen casting news? For real? Sort of.

First of all, it's quite clear that some roles have been cast already - in fact, Snyder said as much. He wouldn't fill in the blanks, but he did made it clear that announcements would be forthcoming, and "soon". He was quizzed directly about Ron Perlman's recent comments - and did not deny his involvement, smiling, answering diplomatically, and therefore stoking the fires of intrigue and excitement. Now, if this comes to pass and Perlman ends up playing The Comedian, I think I'll be pretty happy.

Secondly, there's another story going around - since before Thursday, but gathering strength daily - that Jackie Earl Haley is up for the prized role of Rorschach. Comics 2 Film have picked up on the story today, and while I'm not sure of the initial source, or it's veracity, I do like the idea. Plenty of people have been lobbying for Simon Pegg for some time now, but he's nowhere nearly as good a choice as Haley.

So, Snyder has a couple of strong choices very possibly already under contract.

[EDIT: Haley simply won't be able to find the time, I'm sure. According to The Hollywood Reporter, his plate is full enough already]