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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Nicolas Cage to play John Constantine?!

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06:58 / 29.10.01

As part of my celebrity news trudge that I do every week day at the moment for TCN, I've come across this:

quote: * NICOLAS CAGE TO PLAY COMIC BOOK HERO He missed out on climbing into SUPERMAN's famous costume, but NICOLAS CAGE looks set to win a very different comic book role. The nephew of FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA has been cast in the title role in new movie CONSTANTINE. The supernatural thriller is based on the American comic book HELLBLAZER, and will be directed by TARSEM SINGH, who also directed THE CELL. (JLM/WNWCAN/BRC)

Oh. My. God.

07:04 / 29.10.01

I'd have thought the job was Sean Bean's, really.

07:11 / 29.10.01

I was kinda hopeing James 'Spike' Marsters would get it. Alright, his brit accent is iffy in places, but he looks cool in a long coat with a fag.

The movie will probably be shite anyway. The last thing I heard about it had it as I kind of Blade knockoff, with him kicking crap out of the bad guys, but in a cynical swearingly british way.

07:25 / 29.10.01

I actually think a Constantine movie could be done very well with not an improbable amount of effort. If you took some of the early issues rather than the Azzarello shite it would be excellent. I can't stand the current incarnation of Constantine - why does he call everyone "Squire" for fuck's sake? He's supposed to be a Scouser, not the bastard son of Dick Van Dyke.

07:43 / 29.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Sax on a stick:
I actually think a Constantine movie could be done very well with not an improbable amount of effort. If you took some of the early issues rather than the Azzarello shite it would be excellent.

With you all the way on that one - theres loads of potential there. I was talking about some suggested scripts I'd seen somewhere on the net (can't remeber the web site), where it had just been turned into hollywood bollocks.

08:00 / 29.10.01

Dont know much about this but Sax on a stick's comment about the bastard son of Dick Van Dyke made me laugh, thanx for cheering up my Monday morning

08:00 / 29.10.01

It could be good, but Cage ain’t the man for the trenchcoat. I reckon Ralph Fiennes or Tim Roth could work alright (especially Fiennes after watching Strange Days). May favourite period of Hellblazer was always Garth Ennis’ run, and it wouldn’t be too hard to achieve the right tone on next to no budget. I reckon the film should go for half gritty, realistic urban horror, half Only Fools and Horses.

Cage continues to sink in my estimations. Once unstoppable, now derisable. Come back, Loony Cage! Come back!

Jack The Bodiless

10:54 / 29.10.01

Is 'derisable' a word?

I agree, though... Why (oh why) can't we get a British film company to do a Hellblazer adaptation? It's far more likely to be true to the original comic, and should be free of the more horrifying aspects of the Hollywood Hellblazer rumour mill. I'd go for a cross between the different vibes of The Firm and Get Carter... it would be beautiful.

11:55 / 29.10.01

I’m sure it’s a word. I just can’t find it right now.

Fuck it. The English language is my bitch and it’ll do whatever the hell I tell it.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

13:57 / 29.10.01

Apparently not only is Constantine going to be played by an American, in the film he will be an American and live somewhere in America, presumerably New York, though depending on how long this film is in Production Hell.
It's a good thing I'm not a HB fan or I'd be pissed off right now.

Jack The Bodiless

14:18 / 29.10.01

I am. And I am.

The Damned Yankee

15:12 / 29.10.01

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FU-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U- U-U-U-UCK!

Nic fucking Cage? My fucking grandmother could play a better Constantine than Nic fucking Cage, and she's been dead since 1989!

But why stop the horror there? Let's get David Spade to play Chas! How about that guy from the 7-Up commercials to play Nic the Vic? Brendan Finn? Marlon Brando!

And karate! Lots of karate with JC doing those funky Matrix kicks that every fucking action filmmaker seems to be doing now to try and look "post-modern" or whatever.

Script? Oh, we'll throw together something after we've done the important bits of casting and FX.

Goddammit if they want this thing to suck, let's have it suck long and hard!

FUCK!

[ 29-10-2001: Message edited by: The Damned Pirate Bonney ]

[ 30-10-2001: Message edited by: Tom Coates ]

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:17 / 29.10.01

Er... you guys do realise that this thread is no different to, say, complaining about how Hugh Jackman is too tall to play Wolverine, don't you?

Jack The Bodiless

15:47 / 29.10.01

No, it's completely different. Hugh Jackman was perfect for the role, especially made up with the hairpieces. The only people who argued over it were fatbeard trolls who had nothing better to do. This is more akin to the threads/conversations about the From Hell adaptation - vis a vis, pretending to take a cool, 'underground' comic as source, and then presenting a product which only bears a superficial resemblance to it (if that).

Nic Cage, while an excellent actor when he gets the chance, is

a) American - fixable if he can do an accent and not fixable if he can't (or if they decide to keep JC American) in which case it's shit and I'm not going to see it.

b) Not the right look - JC is a pretty boy, and blond, from which is derived a good proportion of the way he presents himself, and hence his immediate character.

Several movies - Candyman and Hi-Fidelity have either not lost anything, or actually benefited from a change in locale from the one specified in the source material. 'John Contantine' and Hellblazer are rooted in England - anyone who's read it will tell you that.

The Damned Yankee

16:05 / 29.10.01

Yeah, Jackman was cool as Wolverine. I'd never heard of the guy before, so I approached the movie with an open mind.

Nic Cage as Constantine, however, is a Beast (note the capitalization) of a different sort entirely. I've seen him in action.

By croaky and gum, I be not impressed! Yarrr! (Ooops! I dropped the pirate fic-suit! I meant to say: Grrrrr!)

I could see maybe Russell Crowe, or Mel Gibson, maybe, or even Johnny Depp (he can do accents, right?) if we want to go with "name" actors (I don't follow them much, so I have a short list of potential Constantines to go with here), but Cage? Never.

The Knowledge +1

16:38 / 29.10.01

I agree. Constanting can't be American. That sucks ass.

They should have him played by A brit and located in America - Hard Times by Azzarelo kicks ass and would be perfect for the first film, I reckon.

Terence Stamp would make for an evil Constantine.

And if they aren't gonna call it Hellblazer they should call it The Bastard.

And Nic Cage might be alright with the right direction, but I think it will be difficult for him to get across that slimy/dangerous/charming persona and play it so subtle its like a whisper in the wind.

Does anyone know what the cell is like? What's this Singh director like?

Ganesh

16:44 / 29.10.01

Well, I think Cage will mug appallingly, as he usually does.

Mordant Carnival

17:42 / 29.10.01

quote:Originally posted by pebble:
I was kinda hopeing James 'Spike' Marsters would get it. Alright, his brit accent is iffy in places....

... like Chernobyl is a bit radioactive in places. Christ on bike, that boy's accent freewheels all round the English-speaking world six times an episode. It's not an accent, it's a geography lesson.

And he'd still be better than sodding Cage.

17:45 / 29.10.01

quote:Originally posted by The Knowledge +1:
Does anyone know what the cell is like? What's this Singh director like?The Cell was visually stunning, suspenseful in places, and deeply, deeply stupid.

Mordant Carnival

17:57 / 29.10.01

quote:Originally posted by expressionless:
I’m sure it’s a word. I just can’t find it right now.

I think you're looking for "Risible".

20:06 / 29.10.01

I like Nic Cage miles better than I like Hellblazer/John Constantine. So I'm happy.

Sorry.

Ganesh

20:25 / 29.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Mordant Carnival:
I think you're looking for "Risible".

Or perhaps 'dirigible'.

20:38 / 29.10.01

As much as I would like Sting to play the role, Nicolas Cage is the least of this movie's problems.

quote:October 25, 2001... The Hollywood Reporter announced that Nicolas Cage has comitted to star in Constantine. Tarsem (The Cell) is still booked as the film's director. Shooting is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2002. Reporter also says a bit about the story, describing it as a "Dirty Harry set in the occult world". In the picture Constantine will partner with a female cop to fight against the dark supernatural forces.

Ah, yes, the Dirty Harry of the occult world, check. Teams up with female cop, check.

This is the worst thing to happen to Constantine since Ennis.

The Damned Yankee

22:56 / 29.10.01

Elvis H. Christ on a crutch. There must be some way to stop this. Anyone know how to contact the First of the Three? I've got an offer for him.

And the Cell was shit. Half-baked and overdone at the same time. Just this side of camp. Barely.

[ 30-10-2001: Message edited by: The Damned Yankee ]

Mordant Carnival

23:35 / 29.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Deva:
I like Nic Cage miles better than I like Hellblazer/John Constantine. So I'm happy.

Sorry.

Oh, don't apologize. You can't help being an utter, utter, utter utter, utter, utter philistine.

And I like Cage too, he's brill. He's just not Constantine.

I'd go with The Knowledge +1's suggestion of Terence Stamp... if he wasn't about twenty years too old, that is.

And... hello? JC is a scouser, people! Not a bleedin' cockney, a scouser!

[ 30-10-2001: Message edited by: Mordant Carnival ]

00:53 / 30.10.01

quote:Scouser (skaus-sir)
Brit. Inf. ~n. a person who comes from Liverpool.
(just 'cause I almost asked and then remembered that there was this "internet" thing I could ask first~)

06:12 / 30.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Mordant Carnival:
Oh, don't apologize. You can't help being an utter, utter, utter utter, utter, utter philistine.

Go on, convert me. Tell me some good places to start. My dim memories revolve around John Constantine posing in a coat and going "I'm dead hard, but underneath I'm a bit deep" and plotlines involving terrible things happening to women, whereupon JC feels a bit sad. Oh, and monsters. Monsters from Hell. Hopefully I am misremembering, or just had bad luck with the issues I read.

Or should I start a new thread for this and leave this one for Cage-bashing?

06:42 / 30.10.01

Oh yeah. This might have changed, but the movie (if it ever gets around to that whole being made bit) is (apparently) going to be called 'Constantine' because we'll all be confused between Hellblazer and Hellraiser, and so will %obviously% all see the wrong film.

06:49 / 30.10.01

I know nothing about this but but you people are putting me off

You know its going to be about a secret magick stone, i can smell a magick stone from here...

06:51 / 30.10.01

quote:In the picture Constantine will partner with a female cop to fight against the dark supernatural forces.
Maybe she'll die in a gruesomely tragic, tragically gruesome fashion?

[ 30-10-2001: Message edited by: doubting thomas ]

06:57 / 30.10.01

Hellblazer was originally going to be called Hellraiser, which fits more with Constantine's character, but Clive Barker (another damned Scouser) beat Jamie Delano to it.

yawn - thing's buddy

07:39 / 30.10.01

hell blazer.

kind of a devilish fiction suit.

yawn - thing's buddy

08:10 / 30.10.01

Someonce suggested the Stamp:

Terence Stamp - on the back of the Limey? _ tell them I'm coming? Fark Off ya mockney wanker!

now....

kneel before zod.

wot about jude law? or damon albarn? or vinnie jones?

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:36 / 30.10.01

Hellblazer is something I started reading just because some comics shop had a shitload of Delano stuff in the 50p bin. And some of the Delano issues are OK - intermittently quite spooky, but a bit aimless. A bit? Meandering, with irritating supporting cast.

I read Ennis' "hey, look, it's not just about Demons! He can get lung cancer as well! He's gritty! He's realistic! He can only be saved by...er.....demons." storyline, which was intermittently amusing but not exactly essential, then picked it up at the Ellis run out of curiosity - again, quite funny at times, quite entertaining, some nice ideas, but no real *point*.

So, yeah. Always quite inessential, in my admittedly limited experience.

Having said which, Grant Morrison's issues are top, the John Smith one-shot is pretty cool, and his appearance as "the Hero known as....Hellblazer!" in Doom Patrol is *inspired*.

08:43 / 30.10.01

I remember liking some (many?) of Ennis's run, except... well, I mean, it was great and all when Constantine outwitted the very Devil himself, but, uh, that shouldn't be the ending of Every Single Story Arc. It should be the ending of exactly one.

That was why I liked the beginning of the Ellis run, and was sad to see him go -- it seemed like he turned the intensity way, way down, to a nice slow burn. Not, "How John Constantine Faced Down the Hordes of Hell, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the Heartbreak of Psoriasis Before Breakfast", but a low-key murder mystery that had supernatural elements.

I would have liked to see how it turned out... definitely might have kept meandering (see also much of Transmet), but I think it coulda gone somewhere.

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