Super Casting News

March 20, 2003

Several upcoming comic book adaptations made casting news recently and not all of it good. Shortly after being reported that the competition for the role of Superman was down to just Brendan Fraser and Matthew Bomer it was reported that both were no longer in the running. So who is rumored to play Superman now? Cinescape reported it could be Henry Cavill, who starred in The Count of Monte Cristo. Maybe. What is known is director Brett Ratner is dropping out of the project to work on Rush Hour 3. He cited the casting troubles as one of the reasons for his decision. At this rate it may be smarter for Warner Bros. to take a play from Terry Gilliam and make a movie about making the Superman movie instead of the Superman movie itself.

The reports of a Spider-Man casting crisis were apparently exaggerated. Speculation was that Tobey Maguire’s back was too sore to return as Spider-Man. In his place Donnie Darko star Jake Gyllenhaal would take his place. However, as it turns out this rumor started when Tobey Maguire’s publicists simply stated her concern over the physical nature of Spider-Man 2 after just completing two physically demanding roles. The term, "mild discomfort" was used, so you can see why entertainment journalists assumed Tobey Maguire would be forced to drop out of the sequel to 2002’s biggest movie.

Thomas Jane, who can be seen starting this week in Dreamcatcher, may have slipped past Kurt Russell for the role as The Punisher. While promoting Dreamcatcher, Jane let it slip that he might have the role, however, later on when asked he said, "I've been told not to talk about it." Oops.

Lastly, Halle Berry has been very critical of her role as Storm in the X-Men movies. So much so that she has refused to participate in a third movie if there is one. (And there mostly likely will be.) So it comes as bit of a surprise that she is in talks to take on another comic book role, Catwoman. A movie based on the Batman nemesis has been in the works since Michelle Pfeiffer played the character in Batman Returns. Since then Ashley Judd and Nicole Kidman have been pegged to play the title character. If Berry does land the role she will be joining the likes of Lee Meriwether, Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt.

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Source: Superhero Hype

Filed under: X-Men 2, Dreamcatcher