There’s been a shakeup on the set of Peter Jackson’s next movie The Lovely Bones. Variety is reporting that one day before the film is supposed to start shooting, they’ve dropped Ryan Gosling as their star and replaced him with Mark Wahlberg.
Sound familiar? Peter Jackson did the same thing on Lord of the Rings. Originally, Stuart Townsend had been cast in the role of Aragorn. Four days after the start of shooting, Townsend was dropped and replaced by Viggo Mortensen. Now it’s Gosling’s turn to take a long walk off a short pier. In the case of Lord of the Rings, it worked brilliantly. Mortensen was perfect as Aragorn, and has gone on to a great career as a respected actor while Townsend has… well… vanished.
Will it work as well for Lovely Bones? I think most would be quick to tell you that Gosling is by far a better actor than Wahlberg. He’d also made a heavy commitment to the role, gaining twenty pounds and growing a beard for the part. Wahlberg on the other hand, has yet to really prove himself as a serious actor. I guess the question here is Jackson replacing Gosling with Wahlberg because he thinks Wahlberg is better, or is he doing it because Gosling just wasn’t working and Wahlberg was the most easily available backup?
Variety’s story says Gosling left the project due to “creative differences”, which could mean just about anything. Maybe it’s Gosling that wanted to ditch it, or maybe they both hated each other. Whatever the reasons, with his track record, you have to believe that PJ knows what he’s doing.
So Wahlberg now steps into the cast to play the part of grieving father Jack Salmon. His 14-year-old daughter, after being murdered by her neighbor, tells the story of what happened to her family from heaven. Also in the cast is Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci.
Sound familiar? Peter Jackson did the same thing on Lord of the Rings. Originally, Stuart Townsend had been cast in the role of Aragorn. Four days after the start of shooting, Townsend was dropped and replaced by Viggo Mortensen. Now it’s Gosling’s turn to take a long walk off a short pier. In the case of Lord of the Rings, it worked brilliantly. Mortensen was perfect as Aragorn, and has gone on to a great career as a respected actor while Townsend has… well… vanished.
Will it work as well for Lovely Bones? I think most would be quick to tell you that Gosling is by far a better actor than Wahlberg. He’d also made a heavy commitment to the role, gaining twenty pounds and growing a beard for the part. Wahlberg on the other hand, has yet to really prove himself as a serious actor. I guess the question here is Jackson replacing Gosling with Wahlberg because he thinks Wahlberg is better, or is he doing it because Gosling just wasn’t working and Wahlberg was the most easily available backup?
Variety’s story says Gosling left the project due to “creative differences”, which could mean just about anything. Maybe it’s Gosling that wanted to ditch it, or maybe they both hated each other. Whatever the reasons, with his track record, you have to believe that PJ knows what he’s doing.
So Wahlberg now steps into the cast to play the part of grieving father Jack Salmon. His 14-year-old daughter, after being murdered by her neighbor, tells the story of what happened to her family from heaven. Also in the cast is Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci.
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