When Warner Bros. announced they were developing a CGI movie based on the beloved '80s cartoon and toy line “ThunderCats,” we were bummed at first, but also a little relieved. Actors dressed up as cat-people? Kinda screams “furry party.” But then enterprising “ThunderCats” fan WormyT went and made an awesome fan trailer transforming Brad Pitt, Vin Diesel, Hugh Jackman and other actors into living, breathing, pouncing 'Cats and our minds were suddenly changed. Maybe a live-action ThunderCats movie could work.
With the CGI film not slated until 2010, there’s still time to convince Hollywood to pull the plug and give us some flesh-and-blood ThunderCats. With a nod to WormyT’s ingenious trailer, we present our list of who should play the many fuzzy inhabitants of Thundera. And, hey, if it’s a hit, maybe we can finally get a “SilverHawks” movie.
Personally, I think the CGI mo-cap Polar-Express route is the way to go with the TCats. All the characters are non-human, and it would be cheaper, faster, easier, and probably way cooler to just do that, instead of ordering complicated full-body prosthetics for the entire cast.
This may be unpopular, but I’d much rather have the movie be a live-action movie with a little bit of CGI than all CGI as I think it’s going to be. The rough fan-made trailer with Jackman, Pitt, Diesel, and others that’s floating around was pretty good, I’d love to see something more like that, just cleaned up so that it’s immaculate.
Okay, if no one else is going to chime in with the fan picks, I’ll just get things started.
Obviously, the casting of LION-O is paramount, not just because he’s the main character, but because he’s potentially the most complex character. Even so, there’s plenty of actors with the proper leading man qualities combined with the youthful energy one would expect from a boy in a man’s body.
Right now, I’m leaning towards Scott Speedman (Underworld, The Strangers)
RE : Casting the Live-Action ‘ThunderCats’ Movie – Snarf
Here is my chose of cast for the new film:
The ThunderCats:
Lion-O - Brad Pitt,
Cheetara - Kate Beckinsale,
Tygra - Scott Speedman,
Panthro - Michael Clarke Duncan,
Wilykat - Alexander Ludwig,
Wilykit - AnnaSophia Robb,
Snarf - Tony Hale (voice),
Jaga - Christopher Lee,
Ben-Gali - Michael Sheen,
Pumyra - Jessica Biel,
Lynx-O - Terence Stamp,
Villians:
Mumm-Ra - Frank Langella,
Slythe - Danny Devito, based on his performance from Batman Returns,
Jackalman - Andy Serkis
Monkian - Cillian Murphy,
Vultureman - Mackenzie Crook,
Continuing my cast, PANTHRO. By all accounts, Panthro is a role meant for a black actor. Anything else would be like Jessica Alba playing Invisible Woman. :duh: If you asked ten different fans who should play Pantro, they could come back with ten different answers and all of them would be cool. Besides that, the actor who plays Panthro should be notably older, and be able to convincingly portray Panthro as a supreme mechanic, jovial noble uncle-type, and of course, cunning and experienced warrior.
A lot of people say Michael Clarke Duncan, but I see him in the role of a different TCat character (can you guess who?)
My first choice for Panthro (thanks in no small part to WormyT’s trailer) is VIN DIESEL http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/807/castpanthro.jpg
However, Vin may be too big a star and demand too much off screen. With that in mind, I’m starting to like Michael Jai White. He’s the right age, he’s got some built-in geek cred, and he’s an experienced martial artist. http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/1222/michaeljaiwhite.jpg
You know, from the Twilight films? He’s young enough, he’s got the “Lion-O” presence (whatever that means), he’s already buffed-up enough in New Moon to pull off the body, he’s athletic enough to possibly do his own stunts, and he’s got that feline look to his face that would fit the character perfectly. Plus he’s got the star power to pull in the big box office and possibly some new fans. (Hopefully more than giggly teenage girls). The only problem would be, would he do it?
After seeing that live-action trailer I’d definitely prefer to see a live action with a blend of CGI like Pirates of the Caribbean but no Brad Pitt though :). I’m not too big a fan of pure CGI movies and this trailer just showed that it can be done without making it a terrible movie!
Next: Cheetara. If you asked 50 TCats fan who could play Cheetara, you might get 50 different answers and all of them would be great. Mine is Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation, “Burn Notice”) http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/894/castcheetara.jpg
Brendan Fraser would be my pick for Lion-o. Hes got the body and wild hair. I would say he definately comes off as a child in a adult body in most of the films he does.
I also strongly agree with Vin Diesel as Panthro. He just seems born for the roll, listening to the voice on the cartoon even reminds me of him.
Snarf should be computer generated and have a voice over. Lou Gossett should be Pantero since he looks like him a bit. Brad Pitt should be Lion-o.:liono
Ummm, there is no pic…did you use the right BB code? hyper link [ /img ] without the spaces. You can find the hyperlink by mousing over the pic and right clicking and going to properties.
I hope this helps
If you are using Firefox, go to “view image info”
EDIT I screwed up and wrote a bold bb code instead of an image code.
The pic doesn’t include Jackalman, but if you look up “Jackie Earle Haley” you can find some pictures of him with hair, and he looks a lot like Jackalman in them.
I once did this with my co-worker/friend, and this was our cast (as far as I remember it, it’s in my office computer):
Jaga = Sean Connery
Lion-O = Scott Speedman
Tygra = Eric Dane (not the best actor, but looks like him)
Panthro = Vin Diesel
Cheetara = Rache McAdams (I know she’s younger than Scott Speedman, but that has never stopped Hollywood lol)
Wilykat = Jake Cherry
Wilykit= Rachel Fox
Mumm-Ra = Arnold Vosloo (he played The Mummy after all)
Slythe = Philip Seymor Hoffman
Jackalman = Ron Perlman (funny how Animal Warrior considered him for Monkian)
Monkian = Sean Bean or Gerard Butler
Vultureman= Woody Harrelson
I hope this helps