Old actors dead ahead in dream projects
Now that Star Wars character Grand Moff Tarkin has been brought back in the new film Rogue One — despite the fact that the role’s original actor, Peter Cushing, died in 1994 — the option to “revive” deceased performers on screen via CGI magic is especially rife with possibilities.
So often, it seems, the ideal actor for a part has died, or at least aged well out of the role. The business of casting is so swift and fickle (and live stars can demand such pesky things as high salaries or points) that there is plenty of incentive to let CGI-aided and motion-capture composite “performances” become the wave of the future.
To that end, here are some dream projects we’d like to see: 1. Citizen Crane: Two of the more sonorous speaking voices ever to grace stage and screen have been Orson Welles and Kelsey Grammer. Here, through the gift of digital technology, they play Seattle brothers who think “it would be fun” to run a newspaper, the Rosebud — a yellow rag for a true-blue city. Hijinks and low baritones ensue.
2. Cagney & Hart: Among charismatic spitfires of shorter stature, few can command your attention while grinning and weaving like the stars of White Heat and Ride Along. Kevin Hart tries to help brotherin-law James Cagney leave his mob ties behind him in this wacky roadtrip adventure. Virginia Mayo is revived as the gun moll who goes toe to toe with rookie cop Olivia Munn. 3. Ocean’s 14: George Clooney has long seemed to borrow a bit of Cary Grant’s smooth swagger. The stars of Ocean’s 12 and To Catch a Thief play cat burglars who vie for the same diamond and the same woman — the modern-day Sophia Loren, who requires no CGI to make her appear younger, thank you very much.
4. The Curious Cause of Benjamin Button: Early in his career, Brad Thelma and Louise Pitt copped a look reminiscent of James Dean’s cowboy in Giant. Here, they are rebel brothers who keep growing younger, even as they compete for the same oilfields and fishing holes. As their timeless father, Anthony Hopkins refuses to talk about the family fight club. 5. It’s a Wonderful Life for 50 First Dates: Bubbly Drew Barrymore gets to act alongside her great ancestors, including Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, in the warm-hearted and supernatural comedy.
6. Justice Reeves: Current Batman Ben Affleck once played former television Superman George Reeves in a pitch-perfect wooden performance for Hollywoodland. In this film, the two men of Spandex join forces to see who can give a stiffer performance.
7. Precious Makeup: Lon Chaney (the man of “a thousand faces”) teams with Andy Serkis (the man of a thousand CGI faces) in this 2,000-role tour de force that boasts only a two-man cast. 8. Field of Dreams 2: Electric Lights: The actual 1919 Black Sox players return in this remake, but the premise is so little changed that this Kevin Costner/Gary Cooper project goes direct to video. Our pain is eased.
9. Silence Is Golden: Rudy Valentino, Harpo Marx and Charlie Chaplin are revived but cannot speak, so they must mime their thoughts to an A.I. device voiced by a disembodied Scarlett Johansson. A love quadrangle ensues.
10. The Terminator: Arnold Schwarzenegger plays an apocalyptic robot from the future who travels to “uncanny valley” in 2017 Hollywood to destroy all “dead-eye” CGI technology. Thousands of film purists rejoice