KONG: SKULL ISLAND lost Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons earlier this month, allegedly due to scheduling conflicts, leaving Tom Hiddleston as the only confirmed cast member. Now, he might have two new co-stars, including a big star to replace one of those departed older dudes.
Brie Larson and Russell Crowe are in talks to play two lead characters in Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ tentpole. Negotiations are further along with Larson, but Crowe is being “courted hard” for what I can only imagine is a grizzled, older dude part (possibly Simmons’?). He’s apparently waiting for another draft to come in; could the current script that failed to convince him singlehandedly be what incited Keaton and Simmons to take off?
It’s weird to think of Larson all dirtied-up and rugged in a jungle setting, but she’s played such a wide range of characters in her decade-plus as a film actress that I have no doubt she can handle whatever they throw at her. I don’t think they’re going for another glammed-out Ann Darrow type, which wouldn’t fit Larson anyway (casting aside her eye-catching rock-star turn in SCOTT PILGRIM for a second), but I could see her getting her hands dirty alongside the boys, which is what we’d want in 2015, right?
This would arguably be the biggest thing she’s been in thus far (eclipsing 21 JUMP STREET and TRAINWRECK), so if she does sign on, I’m hoping it shows off the talent we’ve already seen in smaller stuff like SHORT TERM 12 and THE SPECTACULAR NOW.
Who doesn’t want to see Brie Larson and Russell Crowe running for survival from KONG and the other residents of SKULL ISLAND?
KONG: SKULL ISLAND will show us some of the mystery left in this world for the price of an admission ticket on March 10th, 2017.
