Casting Bits: Bill Hader As Andy Warhol In ‘Men In Black III;’ Jean Reno In ‘I, Alex Cross;’ No Alec Baldwin In ‘Rock Of Ages’
By Russ Fischer/May 11, 2011 6:00 am EST
After the break, Jean Reno makes I, Alex Cross look good, and Alec Baldwin may not sing for Rock of Ages after all.
Where has Jean Reno been? In reality, he’s been working steadily, although ‘07 and ‘08 were quiet years for him. But despite the fact that he’s been working on a pretty constant basis, he hasn’t had the sort of presence he enjoyed in the mid-’90s after The Professional briefly made him into the sort of actor you expected to see in any high-minded thriller. (And, yeah, my perception here is based in part on a general policy of avoidance for movies like The Da Vinci Code and the two new Pink Panther movies.)
Finally, one of the reasons I was sorta looking forward to Adam Shankman’s screen version of Rock of Ages is now gone — Alec Baldwin has dropped out. He was going to be Dennis Dupree, owner of the Sunset Boulevard club around which much of the film is centered. But now, for reasons THR does not report, he’s out. Not much to say other than: boo. The cast still boasts: Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman, Bryan Cranston, Mary J. Blige, Julianne Hough, and Diego Boneta.
Edit: This is weird. First, Deadline ran a story about Adam Shankman’s production company moving to New Line, which also says that Alec Baldwin has not left the film after all. Conflicting reports, then, and we’ll see what shakes out, right? But then Deadline says that Alec Baldwin is asking to be replaced in Rock of Ages, due to a medical condition. So Deadline doesn’t want to say that THR was correct in the first place, and is instead running their own story about how Baldwin wants out? Lame. Best wishes to Alec Baldwin, and hope that things turn out OK for him, with respect to whatever is pulling him away from the film.
