Johnny Depp

Skyfall The Rewatchables November 21, 2019

Skyfall

Who Won the Movie?

James Bond, the franchise

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:31:47Read transcript

The opening answers are Barbara Broccoli and Sam Mendes, whose career the film resets: he was nowhere after Away We Go, went on to Spectre and 1917 with Roger Deakins, and took a franchise property to more awards and more money.
The film also rejuvenates the Bond franchise, reminding people of its possibilities as the twenty-fifth film approaches amid franchise and spy overload, Brexit and an old conservative character; it is not the same movie without Bardem, with Jeffrey Rush (as transcribed), Johnny Depp and canceled actors imagined in his place.
One host initially sticks with Mendes, another names the Broccoli family and James Bond the franchise, and the Mendes voter switches, convinced: James Bond continuing as a powerful force for moviegoers.

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: James Bond (the franchise)
Speaker not identified: James Bond (the franchise)

The Shawshank Redemption The Rewatchables September 25, 2019

The Shawshank Redemption

Casting What-Ifs

Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, and Tom Cruise were considered for Andy; Brad Pitt for Tommy; James Gandolfini for Boggs; Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage were rumored; and Rob Reiner proposed Cruise and Harrison Ford.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (12)

Approx. transcript time · 01:00:36Read transcript

Tom Hanks was offered Andy but could not accept because of Forrest Gump; the panel prefers Tim Robbins because the role became inseparable from him.
Kevin Costner was offered Andy and is considered a credible alternate, although the panel thinks Robbins better preserves doubt about Andy.
Tom Cruise attended table readings but declined over the director's inexperience; the panel thinks his intensity would distort Andy.
Brad Pitt was intended for Tommy before Thelma & Louise created other opportunities; the panel thinks his presence would make Tommy disproportionately prominent.
James Gandolfini was intended for Boggs but chose True Romance instead. — Chris Ryan
Johnny Depp and Nicholas Cage are discussed as rumored Andy possibilities whose dreaminess or intensity could have fit parts of the role. — Chris Ryan
Rob Reiner offered Frank Darabont three million dollars and another financed project for the right to direct with Cruise as Andy and Harrison Ford as Red.
Jon Favreau auditioned for the fresh-fish prisoner and later called it his worst audition.
Bob Gunton's height helped him plausibly share clothes with the taller Tim Robbins for the escape plot.
Tom Cruise is suggested instead for Tommy Williams.
The hosts imagine Cruise preparing for the pipe crawl by practicing with Navy SEALs.
Favreau is reported to have used the failed audition as motivation to lose weight before Swingers.

Ocean's Eleven The Rewatchables June 7, 2018

Ocean's Eleven

Casting What-Ifs

Luke and Owen Wilson as the Malloy brothers; Joel and Ethan Coen as the Malloys; Ralph Fiennes as Terry Benedict; Alan Arkin as Saul; Mike Myers attached; Johnny Depp as Linus; Mark Wahlberg as Linus; Bruce Willis as Danny Ocean

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 00:12:44Read transcript

Luke and Owen Wilson were originally slated to play the Malloy brothers, eventually played by Scott Kahn (as transcribed) and Casey Affleck; they could not do the movie because they had to shoot Tenenbaums, and two of the hosts spent ten minutes on this the day before.
The Wilsons would have been an infusion of Bottle Rocket, but more twee, with more emphasis on the pitter patter of their speech; they also had bigger profiles in 2001 than Kahn and Affleck and might have taken shine from the top three, like needing an Iguodala and a David West on the roster.
Owen can play dumb better than Luke; the Mormon twins' gags are supposed to be stupid so you laugh at and with them, and the Wilsons might have made it too pretentious or arch; this is the only what-if one host would have been okay with, since the brothers are comic relief, and the hosts are glad Tenenbaums got made.
Joel and Ethan Coen were reportedly also up for the Malloy brothers; one host wants documentation because the Coens in front of the camera seems implausible, while another likes it given the stories of them living with Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand after college, but agrees it is too inside-joke.
Ralph Fiennes, whom one host presumed was up for Basher on the strength of In Bruges, was actually one of three possible Terry Benedicts; he has done villains, including he who shall not be named; as Benedict it would scramble the allegiances because it is too close to English Patient and you might want Julia to be with Ray Files (as transcribed), when you need to be on Danny's side.
Alan Arkin was originally going to play Saul, the role played by Carl Reiner, which would have been fine; Mike Myers was attached to the cast; one of the earliest articles about Brad Pitt circling the film, a 2000 Hollywood Reporter Variety piece, has Johnny Depp playing Linus.
One host is against Depp, enjoying him only in What's Eating Over Grape (as transcribed) and finding the rest overacting; another was a fan in 2000, before Willy Wonka and Pirates of the Caribbean, but not at the right frequency for this movie: a darkness, the same handsome vibe as Pitt, and impossible to picture in glasses, a baseball hat and a parka in Chicago getting dunked on, since he never wants to blend in and would want to be bald with a snaggle tooth.
Mark Wahlberg was also attached to play Linus and had a weird reaction after the fact; a question to Amanda about the Julia Roberts role turns up no other what-ifs.
Bruce Willis was reportedly, on specious evidence, in contention for Danny Ocean, which would be an entirely different movie because Clooney anchors the whole thing; his absence set up a favorite Ocean's 12 cameo, where he arrives mid-heist while Julia Roberts' Tess is pretending to be Julia Roberts, with a SpongeBob pillow, as commentary on 2000s celebrity; the hosts are glad he turned the role down, and Ocean's 12 made one like Julia Roberts even more.
Earlier, in the intro: Mark Wahlberg, initially slated to play Linus, was salty after release, saying he went off and made Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie, which both sucked, rather than sit around patting George on the back.

Face/Off The Rewatchables October 26, 2017

Face/Off

Cage and Travolta spent two weeks together learning each other's mannerisms; the film was originally set in the future, in space; the studio wanted the slash out of the title; the boat chase took four weeks to film; the special edition DVD has an alternate mirror ending; Castor Troy kills 20 people; a Metacritic score of 82

In the discussion (13)

Approx. transcript time · 00:28:33Read transcript

The corner is called half-assed because you cannot believe pretty much anything on the internet; according to it Cage and Travolta spent two weeks together picking up each other's mannerisms and learning to play one another, which the hosts buy, and then played really crazy dialed-up versions of themselves.
Buys the two weeks: that is the kind of thing you do when you are an actor to pretend it is a job. — Jason Concepcion
Whose idea was it, Cage's or Travolta's? 100 percent Cage, imagined inviting him to Bangkok or Thailand to hang out.
Originally the film was set in the future, in space, where face technology is better; Woo would not do it and said it needed to be more realistic, which amuses the hosts since space travel has actually been done while face switching and magnetic boots have not.
The studio wanted to take the slash out of the title and John Woo resisted, thinking people would think it was a hockey movie, Johnny Depp being the great example; the boat chase took four weeks to film, which makes sense because it feels like it lasts four weeks in San Diego.
This was a cool era of movies where desert, marina and big city sit within three blocks, like Seven with its constant rain and then desert; the 90s did not care about meteorology, and it lasted through Collateral with Jamie Foxx getting from the airport to downtown in seven minutes.
The special edition DVD has deleted scenes and an alternate ending in which Travolta looks in the mirror and Joan Allen gasps as she and the audience see Castor's face as his reflection; the studio nixed it, an atrocious idea now on the disc.
Guesses that Castor Troy killed around 20 people. — Jason Concepcion
The body-count quiz draws guesses of at least 24 and 20, with three kills in the first 45 seconds before he slows down; the answer is 20, close enough that the accuracy is called disturbing, Concepcion credited with nailing it after two hosts watched the film four times in a row.
A favorite moment: after they get Castor, Sean walks into the office, is told the CIA sent champagne, says he did not know they did catering, then bummed out suggests a drink and names anonymous extras shot in the first shootout, Winters and Finesco, whom nobody cares about; Winters had been on screen for 27 seconds.
The favorite killing: Castor holds an undercover woman out of the plane, shoots her, throws her off, she gets run over by the plane and he does the Jordan shrug; before that he makes a crude come-on about sending her flowers and rephrases it into something lewder.
They had been working to catch an international, apolitical, stateless terrorist operating in Los Angeles who had already assassinated a federal agent's child, yet all it took was the brother buying a plane ticket and an agent already in place; he was wearing a fake mustache.
Metacritic gave it 82 out of 100, which astonished one host; another calls that a low score for acting that has Nicolas Cage pretending to be Castor Troy pretending to be John Travolta pretending to be Sean Archer pretending to be Castor Troy, five levels Inception deep.

Face/Off The Rewatchables October 26, 2017

Face/Off

Casting What-Ifs

Written in 1990 for Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger; Joel Silver wanted Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford; Johnny Depp was attached; Bruce Willis and Alc Baldwin (as transcribed) were paired; Van Damme and Steven Seagal were paired; Mark Wahlberg turned down Pollux; Julianna Margulis (as transcribed) turned down the Gina Gershon part

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 00:17:36Read transcript

The script was written in 1990 with Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in mind as the leads; the hosts agree that would have been horrible given the bodies, faces and accents, wondering how the vocal box would handle Arnold's or Sly's accent.
Joel Silver then optioned it wanting Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford, which some think would have been incredible but more like a sexual thriller going to a weird place; this detours into Michael Douglas's publicly stated claim about the sexual cause of his throat cancer, which one host insists is a true story to Google and others call a suburban legend and a humble brag.
Johnny Depp was in until he found out it was not a hockey movie, treated as true because it is on the internet, with jokes about whether he thought Pirates of the Caribbean or Edward Scissorhands were hockey movies too; Bruce Willis and Alc Baldwin (as transcribed) were teamed up at one point, which might actually have worked since Baldwin would dial it up.
The funniest pairing, apparently a real thing, was Van Damme and Steven Seagal, two of the greatest Russian moles America has to offer.
Would most have wanted to see Stallone and Schwarzenegger, because it does not make any sense and he needs to see that. — Jason Concepcion
Would want Douglas and Ford, who would have had so much contempt for the material, unable to believe they needed another ranch in Montana this badly. — Chris Ryan
Goes with Van Damme and Seagal (as transcribed 'Van Dammen to go'). — Shea Serrano
The others knew that pick was coming and call it the worst one of all of them.
Mark Wahlberg turned down the role of Castor's brother Pollux; the movie is better with Wahlberg if he is dialing it up, and Pollux's weird hairdo already looks like Wahlberg's Gambler character; Julianna Margulis (as transcribed) turned down the Gina Gershon part because she was filming ER, probably a good choice at that moment, since Gershon does not go around asking whether people saw her in Face Off.

Titanic The Rewatchables September 28, 2017

Titanic

Casting What-Ifs

Jeremy Sisto read opposite Kate Winslet in her screen test; Matthew McConaughey was in contention for Jack; Stephen Dorff was passed over for Jack; Chris O'Donnell was mentioned for Jack; Rob Lowe was in the mix for Cal

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 00:10:22Read transcript

Kate Winslet had to do a screen test, watchable online, opposite Jeremy Sisto, Elton from Clueless, who auditioned but probably was not in contention; the major name in contention for Jack Dawson was Matthew McConaughey.
Stephen Dorff is the verified one: a New York Daily News piece headlined 'actor is thankful he didn't get Titanic role' has the Blade co-star saying he wanted a career like Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson and an Oscar, which Titanic would have made impossible, and that Leo will always be the guy on the boat.
One host disagrees that Leo is the guy on the boat, since he has been in so many hits and everyone has a favorite Leo, whereas Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are more locked into their 90s work; Sofia Coppola is said to have made Somewhere with Dorff because he never blew up, and Titanic will be in the first line of DiCaprio's obituary, and of Billy Zane's.
Billy Zane has not done much anyone has heard of since, though he has been in three times as many films as Kate Winslet.
Chris O'Donnell, named on Wikipedia for Jack, would have been a great and adorable Jack given his Batman movies and a season-two television arc, but could not have taken the film past a billion dollars; Leo is singular and the chemistry is enduring, though he seems strikingly innocent and little in it.
Rob Lowe was in the mix for Cal and is a great asshole, as in St. Elmo's Fire; pre-West Wing he might not have pulled viewers out of the film, though one host says he would have a little, and the leads mostly had blank or clean reputations at the time, which the hosts think mattered.

Speed The Rewatchables September 21, 2017

Speed

Casting What-Ifs

Reported casting alternatives and declined directors are discussed; Bullock and de Bont are judged successful choices.

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 00:17:11Read transcript

Stephen Baldwin reportedly declined because the script resembled Die Hard; the decision is mocked.
Jeff Bridges and Johnny Depp reportedly passed; Depp is considered capable of playing the part.
An earlier, more comic-relief version of Annie was reportedly written with Ellen DeGeneres in mind. — Bill Simmons
Halle Berry reportedly declined the rewritten Annie role; she is considered a promising alternative. — Bill Simmons
Bullock is preferred because her charm develops over the film instead of relying on immediate glamour.
Berry reportedly thought the role would have reduced her to a black bus driver; the discussion both detects bitterness and concedes she might have been right. — Bill Simmons
John McTiernan, Renny Harlin, and Quentin Tarantino reportedly declined to direct; Tarantino’s potential version is admired.
Hiring the Die Hard cinematographer to direct is judged to have worked out well. — Bill Simmons

Point Break The Rewatchables August 24, 2017

Point Break

Casting What-Ifs

Ridley Scott was set to make it in 1986 with Matthew Broderick as Johnny Utah and Charlie Sheen as Bodhi; after four years in turnaround the producers wanted Charlie Sheen or Johnny Depp in the Keanu role; Catherine Bigelow insisted on Keanu Reeves; Keanu over Depp

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 00:10:32Read transcript

In 1986 Ridley Scott was supposed to make Point Break with Matthew Broderick in the Keanu Reeves role and Charlie Sheen as Bodhi, which the hosts call a very bad look.
Broderick as Johnny Utah does not work: picture him in the beach football scene, or playing basketball in The Cable Guy; Ferris Bueller cannot be a former football superstar, so the whole script would have to change.
Ridley Scott moved on and the film sat in turnaround for four years; when it was made in 1991 the producers wanted Charlie Sheen or Johnny Depp in the Keanu role, but Catherine Bigelow (as transcribed) said Keanu Reeves was her guy because she saw him as an action star.
Asked Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves for the lead, the answer is Keanu: the role needs the doofus surfer voice and airheadedness played completely seriously without blending the two, which only Keanu can do, whereas Depp would have done it well and accidentally turned into a surfer for real.
Another agrees with everything said: Depp would have taken it a little too seriously, while Keanu had the unintentional comedy part of it; Depp as a football quarterback might have been its own unintentional comedy.
Nobody can picture Depp running, much less chasing Swayze sixty yards down the longest football field of all time, shedding nine blockers; the joke is that a quarterback who can tackle like that must have thrown a lot of picks, capped with 'Ohio State, baby.'
Early on, while setting up who Keanu was in 1991, a host mentions reading that Matthew Roderick (as transcribed) was considered for the Keanu role and is told this steps on the half-assed internet research corner.