These recastings did not sit well with folks! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most distracting, misguided actor recasts for characters in movie sequels, prequels and reboots. We’re not saying the performances are necessarily bad, but they do lack the staying power of the original actor's take.
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00:00That's a utility belt, not a money belt. Six million.
00:03Seven million.
00:07Never leave the cave without it.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most distracting,
00:12misguided actor recasts for characters in movie sequels, prequels, and reboots.
00:16We're not saying the performances are necessarily bad,
00:18but they do lack the staying power of the original actor's take.
00:21Good morning. My name's Bond. James Bond.
00:25Miss, uh...
00:27Don't move, Mr. Bond.
00:30Number 10. Everyone. The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
00:34I know I should be happy, but I guess I always figured by this point in my life
00:38I'd have somebody special to share my success with.
00:41Well, you always got me, Fred.
00:44Thanks, Bond. That's not really what I'm talking about.
00:47Say what you will about 1994's The Flintstones, but the live-action casting was inspired.
00:51The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas didn't even have that.
00:54After the original cast turned down a sequel,
00:56Universal overhauled the entire ensemble for a prequel.
00:59Even then, the differences in appearance were too distracting.
01:02I'm Betty. I'll be your waitress. The fish is fresh.
01:05But be careful. So are the busboys.
01:07Mark Addy and company were sufficiently made up to resemble the characters
01:10from the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
01:12But the predecessor's characterization around its cast's star power
01:15was lost with the new outfit.
01:16The controversy surrounding this was made worse
01:18by disastrous reviews and box office performance.
01:21Stephen Baldwin even got a Razzie nomination as Barney Rubble.
01:24As bad as Viva Rock Vegas is already,
01:26this primitive recasting method was truly rock-bottom.
01:29The great kazoo?
01:31Gazoo. I come from a planet too far for you to fathom
01:35and a civilization too advanced for you to comprehend.
01:39Wait a minute, Fred. I'll bet we get wishes.
01:42Number 9. Ben Affleck. The sum of all fears.
01:45You're thinking Tchepitsky.
01:46No, I'm not.
01:47It ain't Tchepitsky, either.
01:48I know. It's Chelinsky.
01:49No, it's not. Believe, trust me.
01:51Look, he is standing next to Elena Rishkoff.
01:53He was bringing her at the Geneva Summit.
01:55Chelinsky was not at Geneva. Tchepitsky was at Geneva.
01:58Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan went from a literary icon
02:00to a cinematic one through Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford.
02:03Ford especially refined a rugged family man persona in two movies.
02:07Aging Ryan down while relocating him to the 2000s
02:10for the sum of all fears was obviously jarring.
02:12Never mind the miscasting of Ben Affleck.
02:14The so-called pretty boy's natural charm
02:16just didn't bear the gravitas that Ryan needed
02:18to carry this convoluted political thriller or its dense cast.
02:21With all due respect, sir, I don't think that adds up.
02:24It adds up.
02:25You just don't like what it adds up to.
02:27The franchise wisely focused more on Ryan's pathos
02:30through Chris Pine in Shadow Recruit,
02:32then John Krasinski on The Amazon Show.
02:34As hard as it was for them to match Ford,
02:36Affleck didn't stand a chance in his bloated installment.
02:38I don't think he did it, sir.
02:41I would bet he didn't do it.
02:46If I could ask senior staff to remain behind for a few minutes, please.
02:49Number eight, Jonathan Groff, The Matrix Resurrections.
02:52Things have changed. The market's tough.
02:55I'm sure you can understand why our beloved parent company,
02:58Warner Bros., has decided to make a sequel to the trilogy.
03:02The Matrix trilogy had two unforgettable characters
03:04in Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus
03:06and Hugo Weaving's villainous Agent Smith.
03:08While both actors didn't reprise their roles
03:10for The Matrix Resurrections,
03:11their characters did return as sentient programs
03:14to show off shapeshifting abilities.
03:16Lies, lies, and more lies.
03:19Smith?
03:20What has the world come to when you can't even trust a program?
03:23How?
03:26Tom and I have more in common than you know.
03:28Unfortunately, while Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
03:31was a natural successor to Fishburne,
03:33Jonathan Groff is no Hugo Weaving.
03:35The great, thoroughly prepared actor's delicate features
03:37couldn't be further from his predecessor's natural menace.
03:40It's hard to buy him as the same character,
03:42much less as a threat powerful enough
03:44to justify reviving the saga after almost 20 years.
03:47As much nostalgia and spectacle as The Matrix Resurrections
03:49still delivers for fans,
03:51Smith's baby-faced reincarnation was a crucial error.
03:54Smoke?
03:56Why don't you quit?
03:58I quit calling it a habit.
04:00Now it's just a guilty pleasure.
04:02Number 7.
04:03Julianne Moore, Hannibal.
04:05I'm here because I know of Elder Drumgo.
04:07I've arrested her twice on RICO warrants, DEA and ATF.
04:10In addition to backing me up,
04:12I'm here for the drugs and the weapons.
04:13You're here because our mayor wants to appear tough on drugs.
04:16Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning portrayal
04:18of FBI rookie Clarice Starling
04:20was the dramatic anchor of The Silence of the Lambs.
04:23After a whole decade of anticipating her rematch
04:25with Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter,
04:27Foster shockingly opted out of Hannibal.
04:29Starling would instead be played by Julianne Moore,
04:31another top-tier actress who looks nothing like Foster.
04:34Her stature also lacked the same emotional depth
04:36and chemistry with Hopkins.
04:37Though Starling would naturally have thicker skin after 10 years,
04:40Foster said she turned down the project
04:42because the characterization was too different.
04:44You're lucky you're not sworn here today, Starling.
04:46Swear me! You swear too!
04:48Clarice, if the evidence is lacking,
04:50you'll be entitled to full reinstatement without prejudice.
04:53Moore's efforts to avoid impersonation
04:55only compounded that issue.
04:57The altogether disappointing Hannibal's drastic,
04:59if not formulaic, remodel of a celebrated character
05:02was ultimately hard for fans to stomach.
05:04What is your worst memory of childhood?
05:06Jesus, Starling!
05:07Can I help you, Mr. Crenlow?
05:08What the hell are you doing sitting there in the dark, Starling?
05:10Thinking about cannibalism.
05:12People in justice are thinking too.
05:14Number six, Jai Courtney, Terminator Genisys.
05:16I'll go back.
05:18Why should I send you over all of them?
05:25Because I'd die for Sarah Connor.
05:26Unconvincing recasts have troubled the Terminator franchise
05:29ever since Nick Stahl took over John Connor in Rise of the Machines.
05:32Terminator Genisys was especially egregious
05:34for overhauling the very first movie with starkly new faces.
05:37Whether the unrelated Emilia and Jason Clarke
05:40brought something to the related Connors,
05:42Jai Courtney was an instantly controversial choice for Kyle Reese.
05:45He had built a bad reputation as an under-actor
05:47overrunning major productions.
05:49I need answers, all right, right now.
05:51How'd that liquid metal thing know where to intercept me?
05:54Huh?
05:55Where'd it come from?
05:57And who the hell's the skin job?
05:59What the hell is going on?
06:00He arguably had less material
06:02than predecessors Michael Biehn and Anton Yelchin,
06:04but on top of looking so different,
06:06Courtney couldn't manage Reese's essential charisma
06:08and chemistry with his family.
06:09With all the potential that Genisys ultimately betrays,
06:11this supposedly heroic freedom fighter
06:13was a letdown from the casting.
06:15What day is it?
06:16What year?
06:17May 12th, 1984.
06:19The day you arrived.
06:24Whether it was that first meal
06:25or the hundred years of rest,
06:27I'm not sure.
06:28But suddenly I was feeling better than ever.
06:32Tom Cruise debuted L'Estat de l'Encore
06:34for the screen with Gentlemanly Menace
06:36in Interview with the Vampire.
06:37In Queen of the Damned,
06:38Stuart Townsend brought the vampire
06:40into the 21st century as a heavy metal god.
06:42It's a tricky rebrand,
06:43especially with the first film's cruel antagonist
06:45meeting his match in The Queen of All Vampires.
06:47Unfortunately, the writing fails to faithfully revive L'Estat
06:50even without such inorganic recasting.
06:52Correct me if I'm wrong,
06:53but what I remember about vampires
06:55is that you guys generally keep your identity secret.
06:59Yes, but why hide it in this day and age?
07:03I've hidden in the shadows for centuries.
07:06Townsend's bland performance is not much more convincing.
07:09Although Cruise was controversial casting in 1994,
07:12his performance more than made up for that.
07:14Sam Reed would finally do L'Estat justice again
07:16in AMC's acclaimed adaptation of Interview with the Vampire.
07:19Alas, the butchery in Townsend's casting lives on.
07:22Why must we hide, Marius?
07:24We are the powerful.
07:26We are the immortal.
07:28We should walk fearless in the open, no?
07:30Number four, Bryce Dallas Howard, The Twilight Saga Eclipse.
07:33It'll be a last-minute decision.
07:37I told you how it works.
07:39Twilight fans eagerly anticipated
07:41Victoria Sutherland's rise to power
07:43in the third installments of the series.
07:45Rochelle Lefebvre projected her threatening force
07:47even as a secondary villain in the first two movies.
07:49So those fans were outraged when Bryce Dallas Howard
07:52assumed the role in Eclipse
07:53with a very different look and different mannerisms.
07:55I'm doing this for us
07:57so that we can feed without their retaliation.
08:02I can't live in fear anymore waiting for them to attack.
08:06She reportedly turned down 2008's Twilight,
08:08accepting the role only after it established
08:10a major franchise that went with the bigger name.
08:12Lefebvre publicly disputed Summit Entertainment's claim
08:15that she was fired over scheduling conflicts.
08:17If her replacement really was out of studio greed,
08:19the decision is all the more offensive.
08:21It doesn't help that Victoria, despite Howard's best efforts,
08:24wound up disappointingly retooled
08:26and underwritten overall.
08:27Don't listen, Riley.
08:29I told you about their mind tricks.
08:31I can read her mind,
08:33so I know what she thinks of you.
08:35He's lying.
08:37Number three, Maria Bella,
08:39the mummy in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
08:41We're all dying to know,
08:43is the Scarlet O'Keefe character really based on you?
08:47Honestly, I can say she's a completely different person.
08:50Rachel Weisz caught her big break in Hollywood
08:53with 1999's The Mummy.
08:54Her Evelyn Carnahan and Brendan Fraser's Rick O'Connell
08:57became a family across two movies,
08:59which was more important to fans than Universal Pictures thought.
09:01The scheduling issues that forced Weisz
09:03out of Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for Maria Bella
09:05may have been ruinous.
09:06Bella certainly had the chops,
09:08but Evie's drastically altered appearance and mannerisms
09:10distracted from her chemistry with the other characters.
09:12We've spent our entire lives
09:14searching for priceless artifacts,
09:16and the one thing that's most precious to us, we've lost.
09:19When the film underperformed at the box office,
09:21analysts didn't just blame the seven-year wait or bad reviews.
09:24Evie's recasting really did compromise viewers' investment.
09:27It's a classic reminder that even the most lavish Hollywood franchises
09:30need to respect their characters and audiences.
09:32I'm afraid we've retired from the espionage game, haven't we, dear?
09:37Yeah, we don't do that anymore.
09:39We've finished, completely done.
09:41Number two, George Lazenby on Her Majesty's Secret Service.
09:44Good morning. My name's Bond, James Bond.
09:49Don't move, Mr. Bond.
09:51One of Hollywood's first major franchise recasts
09:54couldn't have happened to a worse role.
09:55For six movies, Sean Connery developed James Bond
09:58into one of the most intriguing figures on the screen.
10:00Of all the major talents considered for the codename 007,
10:03it ultimately went to Australian model George Lazenby.
10:06He had never acted before on Her Majesty's Secret Service,
10:09and many say it shows.
10:10Look, you don't owe me a thing.
10:15I think you're in some sort of trouble.
10:17Would you like to talk about it?
10:19Others, however, commend Lazenby's natural presence
10:22as the debonair spy.
10:23Either way, Albert Brockley taking a chance on a first-timer
10:26was a scandal that continues to bewilder audiences.
10:29Several great actors have since interpreted 007
10:31with unique style and high praise,
10:33but with backlash and pressure,
10:34Lazenby remains the only Bond to not have a sequel.
10:37Request granted.
10:38Not even with regret.
10:40What did you expect, a knighthood?
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10:58Number one, George Clooney, Batman and Robin.
11:00Who invited you?
11:01I was just hanging around.
11:02I thought you were going to stay in the museum.
11:04Rounded up some thugs.
11:05How about nice to see you.
11:07Glad you're here to save my life.
11:08Bruce Wayne has had many faces behind Batman's mask
11:11in live action.
11:12Val Kilmer was a worthy successor to Michael Keaton
11:14despite tension on the set of Batman Forever.
11:16This led to Batman and Robin's first of countless mistakes,
11:19George Clooney.
11:20The ER star's cheeky delivery and shaky head
11:22missed the dark charisma at the core of Wayne's character.
11:24The hackneyed crusader was lost in an ensemble of miscast hams.
11:28I can't trust him not to get hurt.
11:30Perhaps the truth is you really don't trust anyone.
11:34Now don't tell me you're on his side again.
11:37And Clooney might have lost his clout as a leading man
11:39if he hadn't proven his talent time and again.
11:41Still, he readily admits to hating his performance
11:43in the all-around terrible Batman and Robin.
11:45Even Clooney accepts that he was the ultimate injustice
11:47to one of the most iconic roles in film.
11:49Hey, Barry.
11:51No, where's...
11:54You're...
11:55No, you can't...
11:57You're not Batman.
12:00What are your least favorite recasting decisions in movies?
12:03Give us your pitch in the comments.
12:04Wait, I have to take a picture.
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