Hangover Cast Casting News
Galifianakis Lines Up Two, Bradley Cooper May Be Green Lantern /
Dustin Rowles
Trade News | July 10, 2009 | Comments (23)
Ah, the Green Lantern. That’s a fucking albatross around my neck. For weeks now, Warner Brothers has been trying to find its Green Lantern, one unlucky bastard destined to fill the role of the second-worst superhero of all time, behind Aquaman. Apparently, this is franchise material, and a few big names are lining up behind it. Bradley Cooper, on the heels of his successful Hangover, seems to be the frontrunner. But two more names have entered the leprechaun superhero sweepstakes. One of them is Ryan Reynolds, coming off his first box-office hit as a leading man, The Proposal, which has now crossed the $100 million mark, which is something of an accomplishment for a romantic comedy. He would seem the strangest choice, actually, since he’s already lined up for a Deadpool spin-off, and double-duty superhero duty seems unwise, both for Reynolds and for Warner Brothers. The other name: Justin Timberlake, who — according to that fat bastard over on AICN — screen tested for the part earlier this week. At the moment, producers are haggling over the best choice among the three, but I’m guessing that sometime over the weekend they’ll come to their wits and choose Cooper. In either respect, the fact that these three are the final contenders does suggest that The Green Lantern will have a comedic aspect to it, although having Martin Campbell (Golden Eye, Casino Royale) as direction may nullify that suggestion.
All I’m saying is: This franchise has disaster written all over it. Run away, Ryan Reynolds. Run the hell away.
Meanwhile, Cooper is also likely to star, along with Zach Galifianakis, in a Hangover sequel, which will likely begin filming next year. I liked The Hangover, but comedy sequels don’t exactly have the best track record. But, where there’s money to be made …
On the subject of Galifianakis, after weighing his options for a few weeks, he’s finally settled on his next role. This one, again, will feature Todd Phillips as the director. It’s called Due Date and it’s about an expectant dad and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis), who race cross-country in hopes of making it home for the birth of his first child.
Sounds vaguely Hangover-ish, and they might have been wise to just turn Due Date’s script into The Hangover sequel. Now, it looks like we’re going to have both an official and an unofficial sequel. Hollywood loves to run an idea in the ground. Also, Todd Phillips is all kinds of hit and miss as a director — he’s got The Hangover, Road Trip and Old School, but he’s also responsible for Starsky and Hutch and the loathsome School for Scoundrels.
Sadder still, I see the potential for Galifianakis to become another Will Ferrell — he’ll run with his Hangover shtick for a few years, then water it down for family-friendly comedies. It’s the circle of life.
Comments
Posted by: missh at July 10, 2009 9:46 AM
I'm yet to see Hangover... the boy is hard to drag along to films and is determined that Bruno be the next film he sees.
That said, judging by what I've read and the trailers I've seen - it doesn't really scream sequel to me.