Meet the men who could play Spider-Man
Tags: spider-man, columbia, alvin sargent, parker, webb,
Print this article |
Send YM | Comment it!Even as Alvin Sargent rewrites the script for Columbia’s rebooted “Spider-Man,” director Marc Webb has been ensnaring actors in his web(b) in his search for the new Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. Webb has been meeting and reading actors quietly for several months, but the list has narrowed in the past week or two. No screen tests have been conducted at this early stage (though it will be a requirement), and insiders point out that the director and studio are still on the lookout.
The candidates for the web-slinger include:
-- Jamie Bell: The 24-year-old English actor, repped by WME and Artists Independent Management, who made his film debut playing the title character in “Billy Elliot,” has been doing the proper British actor thing in period movies such as “Nicholas Nickleby” and “Jane Eyre” (he’s also appeared in Hollywood movies such as Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” and Ed Zwick’s “Defiance”). More important, he’s already stepped into the comics world by portraying Tintin in Jackson and Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” movie, which won’t hit screens until December 2011.
-- Alden Ehrenreich: The Los Angeles-born 20-year-old has a juicy backstory, having been “discovered” by Spielberg, who saw a comedy video starring Ehrenreich at a bat mitzvah of his daughter’s friend. A couple of TV appearances followed, but the actor’s next big leap came when he was cast by Francis Ford Coppola in 2009’s “Tetro.” He is repped by WME.
-- Frank Dillane: The 19-year-old Brit’s main credit is last year’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” where he played a young Tom Riddle. Is a minor role in a “Potter” film a good springboard for a mega-franchise? It worked for Robert Pattinson.
-- Andrew Garfield: The L.A.-born actor had a short stint on a BBC TV series called “Sugar Rush” but gained notices for playing a young reporter in a gritty British TV movie trilogy titled “Red Riding.” The 27-year-old appeared in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” and will be seen in David Fincher’s movie about Facebook, “The Social Network.” He is repped by CAA and the Collective.
-- Josh Hutcherson: The youngest actor of the bunch and he turns 18 this year; is also the one with the most experience. The past six years alone have seen the Kentucky-born kid rack up credits with key roles in Jon Favreau’s “Zathura,” drama “Bridge to Terabithia” and the upcoming “Red Dawn” remake. He appears in the Sundance hit “The Kids Are All Right,” which insider buzz suggests could be an Oscar contender, and starred with Brendan Fraser in “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”
Hutcherson, repped by ICM and Beddingfield, just signed on to star in the “Journey” sequel, and that movie could prove a fly in the ointment if the actor’s schedule collides with “Spider-Man.” (Though you can bet every effort would be made to make it work.)
The group of actors seems to fall in line with what Webb has been looking to do with his take on Spider-Man, which is to cast relative unknowns in a story that roots Parker back in high school. The movie will be an angst-ridden tale of a teen dealing with the knowledge that his uncle died even though he had the power to stop it.
Columbia wants to begin production by year’s end, but Webb and the studio are taking their time choosing the actor while Sargent gets the script in spider-shape. A Columbia spokesperson did not comment on the casting process, saying “There have been a number of names floated online and almost every week, someone calls with a new rumor. We are not commenting on the casting process or rumors such as these.”
Online since: 2010-05-27 06:38:39 Written by: Borys Kit
Web source: http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/05/meet-the-men-who-could-play-spiderman.html
More articles on Celebrity Gossip Twilight Eclipse madness in Los AngelesA mini-tent city has bloomed outside the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles to see an "Eclipse." Hundreds of fans are awaiting Thursday night's red-carpet premiere of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," the third installment of the vampire movie series. The movie opens in theaters June 30. Scripts are in the works for more "Twilight" movies. About 9,000 wristbands are being handed out to fans, who began erecting tents Monday on concrete steps outside the theater. Nokia officials, who have issued a list of camping rules, say the wristbands must be worn until the premiere is over. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner play Bella, Edward and Jacob in "Eclipse," which features Bella preparing for high school graduation and choosing a prom date — vampire Edward or werewolf Jacob. ... read more >>  Jaws shark hunted downThe star of "Jaws" has been found resting in a Los Angeles junkyard. No, not Richard Dreyfuss -- the shark! With the 35th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's classic blockbuster just around the corner, an NPR reporter set out to track down the mechanical beast that struck fear into the hearts of so many. In order to maximize their control over the creature, the "Jaws" filmmakers built three sharks for their 1975 movie. All created from the same mold, the sharks were dubbed "Bruce" after Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer. The gigantic metal creatures were 25-feet long and weighed hundreds of pounds. The heads alone came in at 400 lbs. apiece, with jaws the size of a small human. ... read more >>  New movie and fiancee make Russell Brand a satisfied manRussell Brand's birthday is coming up — but he doesn't want a thing. The comedian-actor, who turns 35 on Friday, says he's "got everything I need." Brand stars in the film "Get Him to the Greek," which opens Friday, and is engaged to pop singer Katy Perry. The Judd Apatow-produced comedy, which stars funny man Jonah Hill and Sean "Diddy" Combs, has Brand reprising his character from 2008's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," the British rock star Aldous Snow. "It's a lot of hard work pretending to be a rock star, but it went really, really well and it's good," Brand said in a phone interview Wednesday. "It was like doing karaoke but everyone's backing me up and telling me I'm good and laughing." ... read more >>  Russell Crowe snaps over "Irish" Robin Hood accentActor Russell Crowe stormed out of a BBC radio interview after suggestions that he had made the quintessentially British legend Robin Hood sound Irish in his latest movie. New Zealand-born Crowe, who was raised in Australia, has been the target of criticism in the British media for his accent in the "Robin Hood" action adventure movie which opened this week with its world premiere held at the Cannes film festival. BBC radio arts reporter Mark Lawson said he felt his impression from Crowe's performance was that "Robin Hood was an Irishman who took frequent holidays in Australia." "You've got dead ears, mate -- seriously dead ears if you think there's an Irish accent," Crowe, 46, retorted in the interview, broadcast on Thursday. ... read more >>  Bollywood star Bachchan says has cirrhosisAmitabh Bachchan, one of India's top actors, whose disciplined, teetotaling life is somewhat rare in Bollywood, has said his liver has been partially destroyed by cirrhosis, requiring constant medical attention. The 67-year-old Bollywood star said the condition was caused through a blood transfusion following a near-fatal accident while shooting for a film in 1982."I was therefore technically, or shall we say in medical terminology, a patient by default. A patient that had developed cirrhosis of the liver -- a condition that is normally associated with that of an alcoholic," Bachchan wrote on his blog on Friday. ... read more >>  Knox and Vivienne make 8 for Jolie-Pitt familyNICE, France - Brad Pitt was emotional but calm, Angelina Jolie laughed and chatted. The world's most famous celebrity couple were joined in emotion during the birth of their twins — a boy and a girl — and all "are doing marvelously well," the doctor who delivered the babies in a seaside hospital on the French Riviera said Sunday. The newborns — Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, born one minute apart Saturday evening — are the ultimate million-dollar babies, with experts estimating their first photos will fetch a fortune. "In the celebrity world, it seems to be the double second coming," said Darryn Lyons, owner of Big Pictures, a photo agency in London. weeks before the birth. ... read more >>  Island I-Do's for Murphy & Edmonds?Will Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds be married by the end of the year? It sure sounds like it. I’m told the Hollywood power couple will wed any minute now in the South Pacific. A source tells me guests and members of the wedding party are expected to arrive in Tahiti sometime today. "It’s a small, private affair," the source says. Last-minute preparations took place earlier this week. "The bridesmaid dresses are all custom from somewhere in Beverly Hills," my source reports. "They just had their final fittings." Edmonds, 40, hinted at the holida ... read more >> |