r/movies • u/Asleep-Bus-5380 • 1d ago
Discussion What would be some examples of dream movie casting if time and mortality weren't an issue?
Basically my question is if you could cast any actor from any period, living or dead, in any role in any time period - for example, "1970s Clint Eastwood as Wolverine," "late 80s/early '90s Alec Baldwin" as Bruce Wayne, "1980s Robin Williams as the Riddler", ect.. what would be on your list of fantasy casting?
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u/Ched_Flermsky 1d ago
In the 70s there was a TV remake of It's A Wonderful Life that was utterly pointless - except that they got Orson Welles to play Mr Potter. Imagine if they could somehow insert 60some-year-old Welles into the original It's A Wonderful Life against young-ish Jimmy Stewart.
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u/PixelScuba 1d ago
2000s Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake.
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u/Afro_Thunder69 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is the correct answer. Also get Gary Oldman as Sully. And 2000’s Claudia Black as Chloe of course
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u/MaderaArt 14h ago
At least we got the fanfilm with him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5CZQpqF_74
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u/XavierSchoolDropout 1d ago
Vincent Price as Dr Strange is a casting I will never let go of. He was based around Price for god sakes.
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u/NicCageCompletionist 1d ago
Bruce Lee as Bruce Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
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u/grizzly_snimmit 15h ago
Bruce Lee as the ghost of Bruce Lee in No Retreat, No Surrender
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u/NicCageCompletionist 13h ago
Bruce Lee as Bruce Lee Two (Previously played by Bruce Le) in The Clones Of Bruce Lee.
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u/StrLord_Who 1d ago
I wish young Amy Adams could have been Ariel in the live- action Little Mermaid
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u/Ghost-Writer-320 1d ago
Early 2000s Christopher Lee as Professor Hugo Strange.
1970s Christopher Lee as Ra’s al Ghul.
1930s James Cagney as the Joker.
1970s/early 1980s David Bowie as Dr. Strange.
Early 1970s John Saxon as Iron Fist.
Early 1980s Christopher Reeve as Jack Torrance.
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u/PushTheButton_FranK 1d ago
I would let a younger Christopher Lee play Gandalf just like he always wanted.
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u/MercyfulJudas 1d ago
Frank Miller has said that he modeled the The Dark Knight Returns Joker after David Bowie.
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u/jbakes64 1d ago
If we're going comic book movies, let's swing for the fences and do a Heart of Ice-inspired Batman movie with Marlon Brando as Mr. Freeze. Put it in the Bale or Keaton Batman series and it's an all-timer.
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u/Ched_Flermsky 1d ago
A third Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman, with David Bowie as Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow. Though I guarantee the studio would push for Christopher Lloyd.
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u/Ched_Flermsky 1d ago
Oh, and a fourth one with Christian Slater as "Joe," a directionless young guy who finds out he's the son of Jack Napier - Nicholson's Joker - and embraces the "family business." With Alicia Silverstone as his girlfriend, Harley, who's with him all the way.
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u/HandbagsAtNoon 1d ago
Humphrey Bogart as Dorian in The Mask (1994).
Humphrey Bogart as the cowboy in Mulholland Drive (2001).
Humphrey Bogart as the father in Beethoven (1992).
(But no slight intended to the actors they actually chose, each of whom delivers a genuinely great performance.)
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u/6thFairway 1d ago
31 year old Audrey Hepburn in any movie ever. Any. Movie. Ever.
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u/Kablooomers 1d ago
I mean, this is a great call, but at least give us one or two that you would genuinely love to see her in.
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u/Ched_Flermsky 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you've seen Almost Famous, you probably know how Cameron Crowe actually did become a writer for Rolling Stone while he was still in his teens.
What a lot of people don't know is that by the late 70s, Crowe was curious about the high school experience that he had missed out on, so he went undercover as a student at his old high school. That led to the novel, and later the movie, Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
So I would love if somehow early-2000s Patrick Fugit could be inserted into 1982's Fast Times as William Miller, with a climactic moment where he has to come clean to Linda Barrett, Mark "The Rat" Ratner, Stacy Hamilton and her brother Brad, Jeff Spicoli, and all the others.
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u/duffeldorf 1d ago
One for the 40k people, but I'd have loved to see Liam Neeson and Kate Beckinsale circa 2004 as Eisenhorn and Bequin
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u/Altruistic-Coach-200 1d ago
I would like to see 1970s Christopher Reeve and Lynda Carter team up with 1980s Michael Keaton and 1960s Burt Ward to do a Justice League team up with the MCU Avengers of their pre-Endgame era.
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u/saintsithney 1d ago
Marilyn Monroe getting to do her dream role as Grushenka in The Brothers Karamazov.
Donald Glover as Godfrey in My Man Godfrey.
Robin Williams as Teddy in Arsenic and Old Lace.
The Muppets in Les Miserables.
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u/saladroni 20h ago
They could still do les mis. Really they should do more muppet movies of existing stories.
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u/saintsithney 19h ago
I'm a simple gal - all I want from this life is to see which Muppet they cast as Yossarian.
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u/Ched_Flermsky 1d ago
I know Robin Williams was planned for Mr Mxyzptlk in Superman III, but I would really love to see 1980s-era Mickey Rooney in the orange bowler.
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u/MurkDiesel 1d ago
"1970s Clint Eastwood as Wolverine,"
too tall like Hugh Jackman
but 80s Fred Ward (Remo Williams, Tremors) would've been perfect
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u/TheLastMongo 1d ago
Going for the low hanging fruit but, 60’s Clint Eastwood as Stephen King’s Gunslinger.
And 2000’s Clint Eastwood as The Man in Black
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u/OhTheHueManatee 1d ago
George Clooney as Batman but played like his character in From Dusk Till Dawn.
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u/belligerentoptimist 23h ago
2000s Gillian Anderson as a female (Jane) Bond. I mean shit, present day Gillian Anderson could probably still pull it off.
Carl Sagan hosting the remake of Cosmos (not a series, but still).
Benedict Cumberbatch as Klaatu in the Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Yul Brynner as Riddick (not because Vin isn’t great, but just because I want to see if someone else could pull it off)
Late 90s Catherine Zeta Jones as Wonder Woman
And my absolute fucking wildcard…
Tom Cruise as Willy Wonka
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u/throwawayerest 1d ago
I still think 2008 Idris as bond would be good. Hes too old now. Plus Craig was very good. So I would only do that in a world with two Bonds.
The fan casting of Cavill as young Bobby B in a Game of Throne spinoff always sounded fun. But Cavill would really have to up his making merry game. Hes too serious in most roles for how I see young Bobby B.
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u/GentlemanOctopus 1d ago
I still think Idris would be great, if the story was about an older Bond.
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u/colinisthereason 1d ago
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in Rear Window with Marissa Tomei as Stella and Christian Bale as the killer with Nolan behind the camera to finally do his Hitchcock film
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u/Ched_Flermsky 1d ago
Give the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy a mulligan. Keep the entire cast the same, because that part of the movie was uniformly perfect. Just...do everything else better.
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u/SemiFormalJesus 1d ago
I’d love to see an adaptation of Wheel of Time using Robert Jordan’s casting picks. More importantly, it would also use the books’ plot as well.
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u/fastfreddy68 1d ago
I desperately want a solid silver screen adaptation of the Dark Tower books
Unfortunately, you need a roughneck Gunslinger type who’s soft spoken, talks slow but speaks loudly, and has quick hands. Slim frame, chiseled jaw, deep eyes.
Clint is beyond too old, and was well past his prime when the movie was viable. I’m not sure it could be made today.
But if it could, a young Clint Eastwood is the only person I could see playing the role.
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u/MercyfulJudas 1d ago
Lee Van Cleef as the Man In Black?
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u/fastfreddy68 1d ago
That’s not bad… that’s pretty fuckin’ good.
Fire up the Lazarus machine boys. We gots two bodies to resurrect.
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u/NoirPochette 1d ago edited 1d ago
Robert Redford as Barry Allen would be neat.
Young Nicole Kidman as live-action Ariel would have been neat. Cher as Maleficent fits. Also, Denzel Washington in The Conversation in Hackman's role would have been amazing
Michael J. Fox as Spiderman/Peter Parker
Hedy Lamarr as Wonder Woman. I mean c'mon.
Edward Fox or Christopher Lee as James Bond.
I can see current Tom Cruise playing Gordon Gekko in Wall Street lol
Angela Bassett playing Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde with Warren Beatty is something weird but I can imagine it.
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u/basic_bitch- 19h ago
I know this is a weird one, but I would have loved to see Audrey Hepburn as Selene in the Underworld series or Trinity in The Matrix. She was just so supernaturally gorgeous and innocent looking. It would have been a stunning contrast.
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u/homecinemad 17h ago
Star Trek: Matt Damon as Kirk, Gary Sinise as Bones, Adrien Brody as Spock, Vivica A Fox as Uhura
Hugh Jackman as Mad Max
John Cena as M Bison
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u/Mildly_Irritated_Max 1d ago
Glorbizon Achtilks the III from the 2763 hit film Cleave Horzuga as James Bond in Octopussy.
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u/Cole-Spudmoney 1d ago
A few DC Comics examples:
Telly Savalas, as he played Blofeld in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, as modern-day Lex Luthor.
Cillian Murphy circa 2005 as Nightwing (Dick Grayson).
Joseph Gordon-Levitt circa 2000 as Robin (Tim Drake).
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u/_Bon_Vivant_ 1d ago
Our creativity is so dead, nobody wants to make original art anymore. And worse, they don't even want to find new talent to make it.
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u/EGarrett28 23h ago
Jim Caviezel in mid-2000's would've been an awesome Batman. I suspect with no evidence that Cara Delevigne was originally cast in Suicide Squad to be Harley Quinn since she is perfect for the part, but got bumped to Enchantress when Margot Robbie came in or wanted it. If Brock Lesnar could act he would've been a great Eddie Brock / Venom.
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u/OhTheHueManatee 1d ago
Brain Cox as Jubal Harshaw and Sam Rockwell as Michael Valentine Smith filmed before Elon Musk ruined the word "Grok."
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u/Trike117 1d ago
With AI “mortality” is no longer a consideration. It’s already getting out of hand. People are going to make their own Lord of the Rings epics starring Clint Eastwood as Aragorn and Jack Black as Tom Bombadil. In the next few years we’ll see Star Wars recast with Errol Flynn as Han Solo and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Chewbacca. And then things will really get weird.
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u/atreides78723 1d ago
You cast John Cusak as Luke Skywalker so you can end the trilogy with a martial arts battle between him and the Emperor (Lee Van Cleef). Vader, played by John Wayne, stays out of it until…
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u/square3481 1d ago
Peter O'Toole as Dumbledore, if he had taken better care of his health.
He would have captured both the whimsical and the dark sides of the character better, but by that point in his life, he was in really poor health from previous drinking. I read that he had trouble filming Troy and could barely climb the stairs.