Quick, think of your favorite character from film or TV. Got it? Now imagine someone else wearing that character’s clothes and saying that character’s words. Unless you’re thinking of James Bond, Doctor Who, or another notoriously replaceable face, it’s probably hard to picture a different actor playing the part. Alas, before there were “lights, camera, action” on all our favorite productions, there were auditions, and that role was up for grabs. Check out some silly successful, failed, and even fake audition tapes, featuring some very familiar faces, after the jump.
A couple of days back, our own Judy Berman posted a wonderful essay called “In Defense of Turning TV Shows into Movies.” Give it a look, if you haven’t; it’s a reasoned, thoughtful, and persuasive piece. There’s only one problem: The Smurfs.
Yep, the 3-D CGI film adaptation of the inexplicably popular 1980s cartoon show hits theaters tomorrow, and every bit of information, every still, every trailer, and every promotional move (the movie’s website is smurfhappens.com — GET IT?!?!) has given us an unsettling, nauseous feeling, as though The Smurfs might be not only the worst movie ever made, but the worst thing ever made, our single lowest achievement as a species.
Okay, we might be overreacting. (But only slightly.) In fact, if The Smurfs merely turns out to be the worst movie adaptation of a TV show, that’s still a mighty tough competition. Though there have been occasional exceptions (The Fugitive, Mission: Impossible, Firefly), the boob tube has seldom proven a starting point for fine cinema. After the jump we’ll take a look at the ten worst TV-to-movie adaptations — and trust us, it was a hard list to narrow down:
Editor’s note: Each Friday, our internet-savvy friends over at BuzzFeed curate a post for us that’s filled with links to some of their favorite items on the web that week. Enjoy!
This week at BuzzFeed, they came for the Triceratops, and we said something. Specifically, “I’m With TroCo.” We pondered our own mortality while wondering how Amy Winehouse and Iggy Pop haven’t yet met their ends yet. We believed this cat could fly. Shark Week presented itself in many forms, but we preferred these sad shark dogs. We decided that Gisele Bundchen is the new Gwyneth Paltrow. We swooned over this Swedish guy; surely there is a geek record label out there that can hook him up? Maybe the same one that gave us this adorable “just for the fans” video from Justin Bieber? (Yes, that does sound like The Cardigans.) We joined the rest of the internet in having a shitload of opinions about Emma Watson’s haircut — mostly pro-, but with a “don’t try this at home” warning. And finally, we wondered how in hell Warner Brothers let this poster out the door. Yowza, Yogi.
1. The tagline/image combination on the Yogi Bear movie poster is a little surprising given that it’s a kid’s movie and not a gay porn, don’t you think? [via BWE]
2. David Cross has revealed new details about what Tobias will be up to in the Arrested Development movie: “It’ll be the year 2087. He’ll be working on a garbage barge in space. And it’ll be made out of wasabi peas, which of course, he’s allergic to. But he’ll be hungry…” [via Wonderwall]
3. Richard Price will write a series of detective novels under the pen name Jay Morris starting in fall 2011. [via Sarah Weinman]
4. To be filed under things that make Jack Whitereally angry: when “hip motherfuckers” like Mary-Kate Olsen consume free drinks while he’s trying to play music. [via Gatecrasher]
5. Justin Timberlake will voice a gay character in an upcoming episode of Fox‘s cartoon comedy The Cleveland Show. [via omg!]
As we’ve told you before, there’s an upcoming live action/CG-animated Yogi Bear movie currently in the works. In negotiations to star are Dan Aykroyd (to play the voice of Yogi), Justin Timberlake (Boo-Boo), and Anna Faris, who would play a nature documentarian following the bears for her latest project. Then there’s T.J. Miller. He wants the part of Ranger Jones, and decided to bring a bear along on his audition to give the director context.
