If Not Keanu, How About Whitaker and 50 Cent for 'Jekyll and Hyde'?
Filed under: Drama, Horror, Casting, Remakes and Sequels
You just never know what Hollywood is going to give us. First, we get the rarely emotive Keanu Reeves set to take on the world of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which wasn't an idea that pleased many readers. Almost a week later, we're getting another remake of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and this cast might surprise you more than the first -- although it's still sure to be better. Variety reports that Abel Ferrara is re-imagining the story into a contemporary setting, calling it Jekyll and Hyde, and getting Forest Whitaker and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson to star. (To be fair: Fangoria got the scoop a few weeks ago.)Variety just says they'll play "the lead roles," but the Fangoria link fills in the particulars. While I would love to see Whitaker really command the role and both Jekyll and Hyde, which I'm sure he could do with ease) Ferrara is, sadly, splitting up the duties. Whitaker will play Jekyll, while 50 Cent plays Hyde. Nicholas De Cegli, who also grabs a role, said: "It's gonna be played totally straight. In this movie, it's the rich white people who get terrorized, and I'm going to be playing one of those white guys."
It sounds interesting, but I'm still wishing we could see Whitaker grab both and command the world of split personalities. But what do you think about this new reimagining?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-14-2009 @ 10:12AM
lw said...
Dumb
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5-14-2009 @ 11:45AM
Oz said...
Oh God. 50 Cent cannot act. I should know, i watched his movie... hey, it was a free screening!
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5-14-2009 @ 12:06PM
Mike F. said...
It's a classic story that could do with some updating and might have something substantial to say to today's audience but to use two different actors is a mistake and at odds with the point of the story: portraying two sides of the same man. Keanu is no Frederic March (1931 version) so that casting rightfully raises an eyebrow, but Forest might be able to pull it off; if Abel Ferrara uses two different actors, the integrity and believability of the film will be lost.
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5-14-2009 @ 12:05PM
Batzarro said...
Should be all Whitaker.
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5-14-2009 @ 12:14PM
WJDR said...
Whitaker would be great for the role but 50 Cent. Are you kidding me. Someone with more acting skills and more exciting should be playing the part. I think that Taye Diggs should be in place of 50.
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5-14-2009 @ 12:44PM
Mike said...
Oh no! Bad idea on a bad idea. Can you say stunt casting? Why must things always be "updated"? It's a classic. Of course my favorite was "Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde", another updated version. This one may be almost as good.
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5-14-2009 @ 4:24PM
greatone said...
I think Whitaker would have pulled this off by himself. After watching his somewhat split personality in the Last King of Scotland I think he would be a perfect Jerkyll and Hyde. I wonder what would make the casting director consider 50 Cent a good enough actor to play Mr. Hyde to Whitaker Dr. Jekyll. There will be a huge drop off in acting when Jekyll switches over to Hyde. I can see this annoying me because I will keep wondering why the director didn't let Whitaker play both parts.
If the director wanted to make use different people for Jekyll and Hyde, I would have gone all out and got Denzel to play Mr. Hyde. A Whitake/Denzel headliner would have recoup the studio their money for this film. If the director wanted to go with a lesser known actor for Hyde then I would have considered Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who played Mr. Eko on Lost and also stared in 50 Cent movie, before I chose 50 Cent to star in the movie. I think Marlo from "The Wire" would also been a better choice than 50 Cent.
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5-14-2009 @ 11:03PM
morphs said...
I don't think 50 Cent should even be rapping, let alone acting.
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5-15-2009 @ 12:17AM
Mr. R said...
Whitaker should gain weight and do all the Jekyll and then get mega pumped and do Hyde. I know I sound retarded but think about it, sounds awesome.
Kill Fity!
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