Re-Casting Call: The A-Team

by Mark Beall Dec 18th 2005 // 8:30AM

Filed under: Action, Casting, Fandom, Remakes and Sequels

So by now it's old news that a remake of the classic television show The A-Team may be on its way to the silver screen. When we first heard this news, my college buddies and I had a devil of a time attempting to choose new actors we'd like to see assume the roles of these four vigilantes. We are all children of the 80s, so naturally the A-Team holds a sacred place in our hearts; and trying to change the faces of such iconic characters proved a difficult task indeed. The discussion came up periodically after that, and we never managed to reach a consensus – to this day, I'm still not sure who I'd pick. You know you've played this game before- recasting old stories with new actors – and so I'm asking you for your help.

Here are my very tentative picks. The list still leaves me feeling unsettled, really, so please be kind to my fragile sanity and help me settle this issue in my mind.

Hannibal- Bruce Willis. Runners up: Tommy Lee and Mel "no speak-y the english" Gibson.
Howling Mad Murdoch - Brad Pitt, on the basis of his performance in Twelve Monkies. Runner up :Jim Carrey. Wishful Thinking Candidate: Bruce Campbell.
Face- Matt Damon. This choice, for me, is the easiest on a tough list. Runners up: Tom Cruise; Leonardo Di Caprio.
B.A.- Mr. T. Despite some rumoredly tough health problems in the last decade, T still looks uncannily (almost scarily) the same. I simply don't think that ANYONE else could recreate the icon that is T. Ice Cube has the "bling," and M.C. Duncan has the muscles, but nobody else has the panache.

3 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-22-2005 @ 6:12PM

Aaron M said...

I have talked with Friends about this many times. And we came up with much the same list of people. All except one. What do you think about Jack Nicholson as Hannibal? How cool would that be?

11-21-2007 @ 4:39AM

Nathan said...

Hannibal: George Clooney is the only real choice i can see here. He has the same oddball peronality as the original actor… he has the talent and the charisma to pull it off

Face man: I would rather nail my feet to the floor then see Tom cruise play Face man.. I was originally tempted to suggest Mark Wahlberg after his performance in The Italian Job. But I decided on Christian bail after seeing him as Bruce wayne in Batman begins

Murdock: Dwight Schultz was fantastic in his portrayal of Murdock. Insane in a harmless way with enough grip on reality and seriousness to still do his job in the team. In my opinion there is only one man who could do it as well as Dwight Schultz and that would have to be Johnny Depp

B.A. Baracus: There is only one real choice and that is Mr T himself. But if he can’t play the part for health reasons, then I’d have to go with The Rock.... I think the speak the same....

11-24-2007 @ 12:12PM

roy said...

In regards to others picks:

George Clooney is not my first pick but would be a great Hannibal. He should, however, be the ONLY big name..

Clooney... Tom Cruise... Brad Pitt... all together in a van.. too much fighting for screen time. For balance the movie needs one big name and three lesser know actors.

In addition to balance, an A-team movie needs an image shake-up.

The biggest change would be taking everything we know about BA's appearance and dissolving it. Not his character, mind you, just his image. I pick on BA because he is THE icon. This will help make the way for a new generation and letting the movie be it's own story.

So I think that the cast should be:

Hannibal: John Travolta - Powerful, but laid back and definatly a heavy hittin' superstar, he will be the axis of this cast. I want to here him say
"I love it when a plan comes together".
Murdock: Sam Rockwell - If you saw a hitchhikers guide then you understand. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005377/)
Face: Don Cheadle - He is a classy guy who can pull off a con artist and still has that touch of naivety. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000332/
BA: Bill Goldburg - I don't know if he can act but no body is bigger or scarier. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004966/)

Thanks,

Roy

PS That's funny Nathan, after 2 years of no remarks, here are two new ones in three days.

PSS Above all else, I hope Hollywood doesn't screw up this movie, a la Dukes of Hazard.