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| Los Angeles Daily News July 18, 2003 - By Elizabeth Snead CORNER BOOTH: Forget the Max Factor heir captured in Mexico. Hollywood is bracing for a much more exciting manhunt. Industry insiders are buzzing about who will land the sought-after role of John Wilkes Booth, the dashing but deranged actor/assassin, in a new Disney film called "Manhunt." Word is Walden Media will partner with Disney to develop a movie based on "Manhunt," an upcoming William Morrow book by author/lawyer James L. Swanson about President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Swanson, a Lincoln scholar, has co-authored a previous book on the assassination. "Manhunt" details Booth's daring escape and the desperate 12-day nationwide search for the murderer and his motley band of conspirators. Mike Rich ("Finding Forrester," "The Rookie") has been tagged to write the screenplay. But the million-dollar question is which Hollywood hunk is hot enough to be Booth? "Booth was a mesmerizing figure," said Swanson from his offices at a top Washington, D.C., think tank. "He was famous for his emotional intensity, jet black hair and piercing eyes. You need to cast an actor who has Booth's spirit." Will it be dark-eyed Johnny Depp, now burning up the screen in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl"? How about his younger "Pirates" co-star Orlando Bloom, who bears a strong resemblance to the 19th-century thespian and made audiences swoon with his elfin archer Legolas in the "Lord of the Rings" films? Bounty hunters are also betting on newcomer Will Kemp, a stage-trained British actor/dancer who stars in Universal's upcoming horror epic "Van Helsing." And don't forget Stuart Townsend, who portrays the immortal and wickedly seductive Dorian Gray in "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Also in the running: Aussie actor Hugh Jackman, fierce as Wolverine in the "X-Men" franchise. This isn't Swanson's first romp in the Hollywood park. Last year his "Manhunt" proposal created a bitter bidding war - with William Morrow outbidding Miramax Books. Swanson, who co-wrote the 1996 best seller "Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-Up Legend," is also co-producing a movie about the mysterious model that, according to the New York Post, may be directed by Martin Scorsese and will star Liv Tyler as Page, the brunette bombshell embroiled in a '50s S&M scandal prior to dropping out of the limelight. ********** Okay as quoted above: "Booth was a mesmerizing figure...he was famous for his emotional intensity, his jet black hair and piercing eyes. You need to cast an actor who has Booth's spirit." Okay that's a check mark next to each for Will. Note below. If you change the haircut and add a moustache, voila! Booth was gorgeous and charming (like Luca in The Car Man, which of course, Will has played). Actually, Will is gorgeous and charming in real life and a top notch actor (as was Booth). Plus, Will can leap off a balcony better than anyone! Yes, we know, we are perhaps hitting that over-the-top-rung again, but we don't care. This is a stellar role for whoever gets it because Booth is one of the most charismatic figures in U.S. history and this is one of the most tragic but incredibly gripping stories as well. We hope Will really has gone out for the role and needless to say, as great as the other actors mentioned might be, we can't help but believe that Will would be the best!!! Break a leg Will (you know -Booth, balcony, broke his leg, get it?). Yeh, okay. You know us on Mondays.... |
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| John Wilkes Booth Will as Luca in The Car Man |
| Perfect Casting Choice |
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