Rainn Wilson Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The question now is not where, but who. With the announcement that Universal and Illumination Entertainment have nabbed the rights to transform the Where's Waldo? book series into a live-action film suitable for the entire family, with global appeal, naturally we started thinking about who could play the character on the big screen.

We're thinking someone tall, lean, and a little nerdy. Whoever plays Waldo has to look good in a red-and-white shirt, a hat, glasses -- and must know how to wield a mean walking stick. Here are the top five names that come to mind, and why (listed alphabetically):

• Jim Carrey. Accustomed to playing literary characters, especially beloved children's tales, plus proven worldwide box office appeal.
• David Cross. Looks good in glasses; would bring an unpredictable, possibly psychotic and sinister edge to the character.
• Tony Hale. Yes, like Cross, another Arrested Development alumni; brings the "nutty" factor into the equation, plus it's hard to keep your eyes off him even when he's standing still.
• Hugh Laurie. Not too nerdy, true, but he might be the best of all, acting-wise; wields a nasty walking stick on House; amazing comic abilities just waiting to be tapped.
• Rainn Wilson. Versatile, manic energy, can intentionally disappear into the background on The Office -- and definitely has got the bespectacled thing down.

What do you think? Who could play Waldo?

Those who know and love the film will no doubt mention its innate "watchability," but newcomers to the great comedy Galaxy Quest may find themselves most intrigued by the bizarre cast. Is that Tony Shalhoub and Sam Rockwell stealing every scene that isn't nailed down? And what's Sigourney Weaver doing in a broad comedy? And wasn't that Justin Long ... and there's Missi Pyle ... and Rainn Wilson! And how is the film so funny if Tim Allen is the lead? When did Alan Rickman become so funny? And (my favorite) who is that guy playing the babbly alien leader Mathesar? He's hilarious!

But the cast is not the reason that DreamWorks is re-releasing Galaxy Quest on DVD this week. Nope, it's because Dean Parisot's widely-adored Galaxy Quest is an obvious but very affectionate Star Trek satire, and what with the new Trek making all sort of waves this month, the Galaxy Quest re-release seemed like a pretty obvious idea. Clearly I believe that this fine farce deserves a spot on your DVD shelf, but is the new version actually worth the "double dip," or should you just stick with your current version?

Spencer Susser's indie comedy Hesher has attracted a ridiculously likeable cast -- which sounds weird, but do you really know anyone who doesn't like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, or Rainn Wilson? Exactly. It's like the definition of likeable.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story centers around an awkward 13-year-old (is there any other kind?) who finds his life turned upside down by a twenty-something loser named Hesher, who moves in with the boy and his pill-popping father and grandmother. The family is in rough shape after the death of the boy's mother (hence the pill popping) and Hesher ends up having a good and bad influence on the situation. Wilson will play the father, and Gordon-Levitt the title role of Hesher. Portman is playing a supermarket employee who saves the boy from bullies, and becomes an object of his adoration. Portman wll also be co-producing the film with Lucy Cooper, and the film begins shooting next week in L.A.

The concept sounds dangerously close to some of those deliberately quirky comedies that have become so prevalent in the indie scene. But that can be forgiven with the right cast, and certainly will be a nice break for Wilson and Gordon-Levitt, who are fresh off summer blockbusters. Everyone knows you have to do an indie flick after doing a stint with CG and explosions to stay respectable.

Sorry, but this isn't a world of peeping toms. While I can very easily see both Rainn Wilson and Sarah Silverman stretched along the branches of a tree, binoculars in hand, peeping at the unsuspecting, this project is all about revealing rather than snooping. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Wilson and Silverman are negotiations to star with the already-signed Michael C. Hall and Ben Schwartz in Peep World.

The indie film, written by Peter Himmelstein (title designer for Slums of Beverly Hills), focuses on some adult siblings brought together for their father's 70th birthday. The event "denegrates into an absurd theater of accusation and resentment" as they have it out with one of the siblings, who wrote a novel exposing the family's secrets. The comedy will be directed by Barry Blaustein, who helmed the professional wrestling doc Behind the Mat, as well as 2005's The Ringer. But you probably know him more for his written work. He's the pen behind goofy mainstream screenplays like Police Academy 2, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, and The Honeymooners.

Hall, Wilson, Silverman, and Schwartz as siblings -- it's not something I ever would've imagined, but it will be a welcome change to see Hall step away from the creepy blood-letting and keep up comedically with the likes of Wilson and Silverman. But who will be the dad behind such quarreling siblings?

There were no big surprises at the box office this weekend. To officially ring in the fall, it was the first weekend since April when no film debuted to more than $20 million. The best opener was the tolerably-reviewed Anna Faris vehicle The House Bunny, with $15.1 million. Interchangeable Jason Statham Movie, a.k.a. Death Race, followed with an estimated $12.3 million -- among Statham's weakest showings and the worst ever for director Paul W.S. Anderson (not counting the indie Shopping, which played on one screen).

Neither The House Bunny nor Death Race could dethrone Tropic Thunder, which held up fairly well to stay on top with a $16.1 million second weekend. It looks to have better legs than Pineapple Express, and should pass that film before all is said and done. In other holdover developments: The Dark Knight fell to fourth, but should reach $500 million by next weekend; Star Wars: The Clone Wars fell an unsurprising 60%+, and will top out around $35 million -- still not bad for a cartoon, I think.

Two more wide release debuts fared poorly. The Longshots -- the Ice Cube/Keke Palmer football drama directed by Fred Durst -- made a predictably tepid $4.3 million bow. But boy was I ever wrong about The Rocker, which was heavily advertised and promo-screened, but landed out of the top 10 with $2.8 million and an under-$1000 per-screen average. Color me surprised -- it's a decent flick, too. I guess Rainn Wilson not only can't open a movie, but affirmatively turns people off.

Hamlet 2 opened on 100 screens before going wide next weekend. Its $435,000 gross -- around $4,200 per screen -- isn't terrible, but doesn't inspire confidence for the expansion.

The full estimates after the jump.

Yesterday, movie theaters everywhere were greeted with the ultimate sight in rockin' sexiness -- Rainn Wilson. Yes folks, The Rocker opened yesterday, and now you can see Robert "Fish" Fishman get kicked out of hard-core band Vesuvius, lose all hope, and then find a new future with his nephew's high school rock band twenty years later.

But before the days of rockers, or fastidiousness on The Office, or even pent-up sexual attraction on Six Feet Under, Rainn Wilson was a space man. Above you can see him as Lahnk, in a deleted scene from Galaxy Quest. As a member of the reactor staff, he has a question for the fish-out-of-water Fred (Tony Shalhoub), and wants a little advisement. Oh yeah, and the guy who introduces him -- Enrico Colantoni.

Whoever would've thought that the Spock-esque dude would hop onto Almost Famous, star in a hit television show, and then get a romance with Kelly Bundy?!

Above: Rainn Wilson lets his hair down for The Rocker.

Fans of Rainn Wilson's offbeat, hilarious and strangely endearing performance as Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office might expect him to transition into film work with straightforward comedy, and The Rocker confirms that suspicion. However, they might not realize the serious professional motives behind his choice. In the movie, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Grown Monty), Wilson plays a grown-up dolt named Fish with a scary fixation on classic rock. Abandoned by the band Vesuvius in his teens -- before they became a commercial phenomenon -- Fish spends the next twenty years working deadbeat jobs and wishing things happened differently. Naturally, he gets a second chance: When the opportunity rolls around to drum for his nephew's high school, Fish goes for it. Ageism and slapstick humor ensue.

While not exactly a classic, The Rocker proves Wilson has the charisma to carry a movie. The script could use some polishing, but Wilson manages to play a completely dysfunctional human being without ever becoming an annoyance. It's a testament to his skill as an actor with calculated timing. The humor emerges from the naturalism of his performances, which make you believe in the outlandish characters he portrays. In a conversation with Cinematical recently, Wilson elaborated on his particular strategies as his career advances, reminisced about his days as a New York theater actor, and shed some light on a few upcoming projects.

(We're re-posting our CineVegas review of The Rocker to coincide with the film's theatrical release today)

I like the premise of The Rocker so much -- middle-aged wannabe rock star insinuates himself into his teenage nephew's band -- that I'm inclined to go easy on it solely out of good will. It's likable enough, a lightweight rock 'n' roll comedy punctuated by several belly laughs -- but those laughs are all in response to the one-liners, and mostly from one minor character (more on that later). The story, the central personalities, and the uninspired slapstick are bland.

The title wannabe is Robert "Fish" Fishman, played by Rainn Wilson (of TV's The Office) in his first major film role. Fish was the drummer for Vesuvius, a mid-'80s heavy-metal band, but was kicked out on the eve of the group's success. Now, two decades later, Vesuvius is huge and Fish is a bitter has-been (or, rather, never-was).

Video taken down at studio's request

It may be bootlegged -- and therefore a limited-time offering -- but from very early on, this trailer for next spring's 3-D animated bonanza Monsters vs. Aliens had me sold and only worked its way up from there.

I like that all of the human characters appear to be related to the Parr family, and that the monsters and aliens on display promise to look even cooler in three dimensions. I dig Stephen Colbert as the President and Keifer Sutherland as General W.R. Monger, not to mention other voices by Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, Hugh Laurie, and Paul Rudd. (Oh, and Reese Witherspoon never did anyone any harm either.) Most importantly, the project gives off a saavy sense of humor without relying as heavily on pop culture riffs as Dreamworks used to. A '50-styled sci-fi send-up should hold my attention as much as the little ones, if done right.

Between this, Kung Fu Panda, and Over the Hedge, I think that it's fair to say that Dreamworks Animation has found a reliable niche as Pixar's hipper cousin. With any luck, I won't be proven wrong come March 27, 2009.

In one of the more inspired viral marketing campaigns that I've come across, um, today, actor Rainn Wilson has apparently taken his co-star from TV's 'The Office,' the lovely and talented Jenna Fischer, hostage in his trunk until his new film, The Rocker, opens to the tune of $18.7 million next week.

Mind you, that's $18.7 million in American dollars, as specified on the initial MySpace ransom post (the Fox-owned MySpace, natch), and Fischer has been promised a peach smoothie for her troubles. Any and all further updates are to be posted instead on the aptly-named blog Free Jenna Now! (the maxim of which is "See a great movie. Save a good person.").

Eric D. Snider reviewed the film at CineVegas, and I can pretty much echo every sentiment he shared then regarding its supposed greatness. Regardless, The Rocker opens on Wednesday, August 20th, while Rainn's trunk opens on Monday, August 25th.

[Thanks to regular reader WW for the tip.]