.jpg) By Johnny Firecloud | Casting has not yet been revealed for the film version of the eighties TV series "The A-Team," (due in theaters June 12, 2009 from 20th Century Fox) but rumors are circulating heavily these days that Bruce Willis will be stepping into the ringleader role as John "Hannibal" Smith. |
If this one proves true, consider our tickets bought. As far as other cast members go, director John Singleton has said he hopes to get Woody Harrelson on board for the role of resident lunatic Murdock (the part seems made for Jim Carrey, but who are we to say?). No word on who could play Face, but Aaron Eckhart or Steve Carrell sounds about right.
Ice Cube has expressed interest in the role of B.A. Baracus, first made famous by Mr. T. The original Baracus, however, nixed the idea of making an appearance in the new film. “I am not going to be in the movie for no cameo stuff,” Mr. T said. “I ain’t got nothing against [producers Spike Seldin, Marc Silvestri, Alex Young and returning series creator Stephen J. Cannell] picking someone for the movie, but it’s insulting me to ask me to be in it. It’s just like my ex-girlfriend saying ‘Why don’t you come out to dinner with my new boyfriend?’ You see what I mean? I am not going to do that.”
The man who defined and embodies the spirit of the ornery, helicopter-hating B.A. Baracus has no interest in playing a different character, such as the standard mentor-type role remakes tend to offer original players, either. “I know about two things: ‘Rocky III’ and Clubber Lang, and ‘A-Team’ and B.A. Baracus. That’s who I am!”
Rumored plot points include the war in Iraq being used as part of the backstory, and will undoubtedly feature Smith and company bringing vigilante justice while running from the military. With today's surveillance technology, it should be interesting to see how a bunch of scary looking guys in a black van can escape the military. It's not like they're hiding in caves...
With cast possibilities like these, the biggest hurdle this film will likely have to overcome is budget concerns. Over-the-top moments, most often including massive explosions, were a signature characteristic of the original TV series. For example, a huge bomb's detonator is timed exactly to the lighting of Hannibal's cigar in one episode, enabling the crucial bad-ass-walking-towards-the-camera-with-a-smile-while-the-world-explodes-behind-him shot. Additionally, virtually every episode in the series features vehicles, particularly of the military jeep variety, that are prone to explosion when met with gunfire.
The A-Team's violence, however, always came highly sanitized. Nobody actually dies on the show, despite the fact that their vehicle/tank/helicopter has just exploded into a jillion pieces around them. That's not to mention the fact that about 50 million rounds of ammunition are fired in each episode, striking absolutely nothing that breathes - ever. Sure, people may clutch their chests or supposedly afflicted limbs, but did you see any blood? Hell no.
The lack of blood, corpses or even so much as a bruise was a running joke among the writing staff, according to show creator Stephen J. Cannell. Writers would often deliberately test the limits of realism just to see how ridiculously improbable they could make the situation. Soldiers trapped in a nuclear ammo dump that's just been blown to high hell climb out of the smoldering rubble looking little more than winded. Hannibal fires a bazooka at a military vehicle, reducing it to a mangled mess of burning steel, yet the vehicle's occupants crawl from the wreckage without a scratch. See the pattern?
This film could be great, with the right script and especially the right cast. But Singleton has his work cut out for him, because the odds of this movie bombing are pretty high.
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