TheGame Tagged Articles at Cinematical
The Game to Play B.A. Baracus in 'A-Team'?
Filed under: Action », Casting », RumorMonger », Fandom », 20th Century Fox »
Set the bar low enough, and it can only be exceeded. That's how I feel about the upcoming big-screen version of The A-Team, a 80s television series entirely beholden to the staid formula of the day and ripe for reinvention. I didn't hate the series so much as I found it routinely mediocre. My colleague Monika Bartyzel loved the series as a kid, yet still questioned the casting choices that were being entertained: Liam Neeson as Hannibal? Bradley Cooper as Face? Adding fuel to the fire, rapper The Game is being considered to play the role of B.A. Baracus, according to blackfilm.com, which quotes "a very highly reliable source in the entertainment industry."
For me, the only thing that made The A-Team watchable was the bantering between the characters, and the choices so far all indicate that director Joe Carnahan is aiming for a more straightforward action picture, based on a script by Wanted's Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. Which is crazy, like moving Miami Vice to Seattle or transforming the lead character in Get Smart into a fairly bland, somewhat competent secret agent. (Even though the latter still made money.)
The mistake would be in confusing brand recognition with brand loyalty. If you're promising fans of the TV show that you're going to deliver the same thing, only bigger and better, then you damn well better deliver something in the same spirit. I haven't seen The Game's work as an actor (Waist Deep, Street Kings) yet; is he any good? If this rumor is true, could he wear the mohawk of the immortal Mr. T?
Dan Weiss is the New Pen Behind 'The Game'
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Deals », Scripts »
You might have thought all hope was lost for Neil Strauss' womanizing tome The Game to hit the big screen, but now it's back. Last year, Columbia nabbed the book and gave it to Chris Weitz (About a Boy) to adapt. Weitz moved on to The Golden Compass, and the adaptation of The Game was left high and dry. Now Spyglass has nabbed the rights and has tapped relative-unknown Dan Weiss to adapt it. (Variety says he's behind some rewrites for flicks like Halo, as well as an HBO pilot.) Producer Andrew Miano says that while Weitz was the main guy, Weiss has been around since the beginning, and "his perseverance and love for the project continued to impress me." Is he a man in need of some womanizing himself?If you're not familiar with the book, it's about an average Joe who gets the help from seduction "experts" to become the world's best pickup artist. His main guide, Mystery, uses the mantra: "find, meet, attract and close," while others are monumentally creepier -- like a guy who uses hypnosis as part of his plan to get women in bed. I haven't read the book, so I'm waiting to see if it can pull off the sleaze like, say, Roger Dodger did. On the other hand, I'm apprehensive since Campbell Scott's film had him as a pathetic womanizer facing a bunch of strong and powerful women, whereas The Game seems to rely on naivete.
Sidenote: On his website, Strauss claims to be leaving the seduction scene forever, after he gives out some sort of secret "LAST GIFT" to his VIP e-mail list. Hurry now, before the secret is gone forever and life is never the same!!!
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