Van says the film needs a Black David Lindhagen. Idris Elba and Taye Diggs are deemed too handsome, Ice-T rejected, and Keenen Ivory Wayans and Giancarlo Esposito proposed.
Esposito is disputed as too sinister; Underwood, Haysbert and Chris Rock are considered, with age and scene-dominance objections. Bacon’s ordinary likability is defended. — Bill Simmons
An all-Black remake initially proposes Denzel as a billionaire modeled on Bob Johnson or Byron Allen, then questions whether he would accept a cuckold role. — Van Lathan
The curveball is casting the next James Bond rather than this film's roles; the Idris Elba angst conversation is declared over since he is now older than any previously cast Bond, though Daniel Kaluuya fits some of the profile.
Among white male Brits there is no strong class: Richard Madden, Scottish and hot after Bodyguard, is a little wooden without Craig's layers of pain, after a Richard-James-Steve Madden stumble; the next Bond must be handsome, different from the archetype, a good actor, sexy, cool and good with a gun.
All the thirty-something British actors are already in Marvel or other franchises; Tom Hardy would be welcome but won't take the mask off, Kano, the grime emcee from Top Boy, is a way-out-of-the-box pick, and no Cumberbatch.
On a woman as Bond, Charlie's Angels is a depressing example of marketing to women, but Emily Blunt is the one: British, charismatic, great in action films from Edge of Tomorrow to Sicario, already engaged with English mythology via Mary Poppins, though Bond is called an inherently conservative property unlikely to make that choice.
For the film itself, Rubenek (as transcribed) as M is wished for, and nobody missed Felix Leiter, Jeffrey Wright's character who picks Bond up at the airport, since this movie refreshingly does not care about America.
The new category, from a listener, is to recast one part; two would recast nothing because the movie is perfect, one would put Dave Chappelle in the Mo McCray part, with Kate McKinnon as a joke; asked which part they would play, the answers are Borracho and Murph, and Jamie Foxx is rejected as too old.
The film missed spots to stunt cast: the disgruntled wife could have been someone more famous like a 2019 Catherine Keener or Jessica Alba, and Gus could have been funnier with Chappelle, a take the other two vote down.
Gus could have been dialed up with Dave Chappelle or Jamie Foxx for three jokes, but the others say the film cannot have humor because it is built as Big Nick versus Ray Merriman, two alpha gorillas on a collision course, signaled by the on-screen names and matching back-shot introductions.
Mo McCray's best moment, pulling Big Nick away from the women at Benihana while giving them a salacious look, shows the crew is as dirty as Nick; the Chappelle wish is compared to Laker fans preferring Derek Fisher to Chris Paul.
For 50 Cent's part, Ray Lewis or Ed Reed are imagined as stunt casting, Idris Elba is too famous and old, and swapping Mo McCray and 50 would make a worse movie because the cop needs to be the slimy, skinnier one.
The shooting range standoff; Pablo Schreiber's performance; Gerard Butler's performance; the cop names Borracho, Murph, Tony Z and Gus; the name Merriman; O'Shea Jackson's arrival; 50 Cent's performance; Pablo Schreiber's chin; the double-date dinner scene
The shooting range, where Merriman unleashes forty bullets in a row and Butler shoots back looking impressed, is their version of the Heat diner scene without any talking.
Schreiber carries his body like an ex-athlete and ex-military man; he was in The Wire season two and Emmy-nominated for Orange Is the New Black yet reads as three different people with the same face, his six-foot-five height may hold him back next to five-foot-eight stars, and the training from 13 Hours shows here.
If Vin Diesel never existed, the first backup pick for Dom Toretto would be Pablo Schreiber, who could do the backyard familia scenes The Rock cannot; four inches shorter he would be Henry Cavill, and he should be the bad guy who joins the gang in a later Fast and Furious.
Butler based the performance heavily on Gene Hackman in French Connection; it is unlike anything else in his career, and he is compared to Devin Booker, a talent who never quite became the top-tier lister the rom-coms sold him as, never getting a Gladiator or Beautiful Mind, though he has the Has Fallen franchise and this is his LA Confidential.
The cop names Borracho, Murph, Tony Z and Gus are great; Merriman is a great name because he is the worst hang of all time, and the host keeps thinking of the football player Sean Merriman.
O'Shea Jackson's arrival as someone who will be in movies for a long time has aged well.
50 Cent is very good at playing the one guy with the volume turned down, giving everything gravity, and never seems to mourn his wife and daughter before the highway shootout; the pushback is that Val Kilmer does more with the same quiet-partner role in Heat, and Ray Lewis or Ed Reed are imagined as stunt casting, while Idris Elba is too famous and flipping Mo McCray with 50 would be worse because of body types.
Pablo's chin is a neat trick: a street fighter either tucks the chin or puts it out daring you to hit it, and Merriman is the guy who always puts it out, which fits his all-in ending.
The double-date dinner scene unapologetically rips off Pacino taking his TV back in Heat and is ludicrous, with no clear motivation for Nick going there or for the wife dating so fast.
An 11-episode Netflix show is accepted; the Devlin MacGregor plot is more believable now than in 1993. — Bill Simmons
One participant picks Mark Ruffalo as Kimble for his mix of intelligence, innocence and looking aggrieved.
Jon Hamm is proposed, then said to also have been another participant's choice: a believable doctor with a great jaw and big charismatic TV star.
Ruffalo's case is defended with a 'they knew' sequel joke, but he is later dismissed as busy with the Hulk.
The marshal should be Black or a woman to change the dynamic, with Viola Davis suggested; the pairing lands on Hamm and Viola.
Joey Pants could come out of retirement as an older Cosmo.
For a male minority Gerard, someone with a comedian background is suggested, with Chris Rock raised, and Idris Elba is proposed; Elba is questioned on sarcasm but defended via Molly's Game and Luther.
Liam Neeson as an older fugitive would not survive the dam; Brad Pitt would have been a great fugitive in a movie version. — Chris Ryan
A tech-era version would need to handle the internet, which makes it less of a pure ride; Will Smith basically already did it. — Andy Greenwald
Michael Shannon is suggested as Sam Gerard; one participant dislikes him.
The Fugitive should be a binge-watch show; a series could have a different fugitive, director and writer every season.
