“The A-Team” remake update

When this project was first announced, we really didn’t take it seriously. We sort of took it in the same stride as the Hasbro game remakes Universal Pictures have got going.

But now the cast is just about set, and you know something? This movie COULD creep up and be a 100% improvement over the original NBC TV series.

Already confirmed for this project are Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, and former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Neeson’s playing John “Hannibal” Smith, the role originated by George Peppard. (I know, right? Liam delivering “I love it when a plan comes together”? Might be something.) Bradley Cooper is playing “Face”, the role originated by Dirk Benedict, and Rampage is signed on to play “BA” Baraccus, the role originally played by Mr. T.

With this part of the cast set, “A-Team” could still go left. “Rampage” as B.A. is a cool announcement, and certainly opens up this project’s audience, but if he turns out to be a bad actor, or worse, a good actor just doing a Mr. T impression, this movie could be horrible.

No, there was one character in this story that, if Fox was gonna do this, HAD to be cast right.

“Howlin’ Mad” Murdock. Yes, we all got tired of the same “we gotta get Murdock out of the psych ward so he can fly the plane” routine, but Dwight Schultz killed that role. So much so that by the time he was cast in Star Trek: the Next Generation as “Barclay”, you were waiting for him to do or say something crazy. Plus, the interaction between B.A. and Murdock is a KEY element to this being an enjoyable movie.

Looks like Fox gets it.  Looks like they’re gonna go with Sharito Copley (you saw him in “Distrct 9″) as Murdock. NOW it’s a party.

They’re also  talking to  Jessica Biel. Right. We thought the same thing…”as the reporter who helps them out?” Nah. Just as “Face”‘s ex gf. So there’s romantic tension between Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel in this movie. Whatever.

So this movie could still be absolutely horrible. But something tells us…notsomuch.

Joe Carnahan (He wrote “Smokin’ Aces“) is directing a script  written by Skip Woods. They start  shooting  in Vancouver in a month or so. Ridley Scott and Jules Daly are producing, with series creator Stephen J. Cannell. Having Stephen as a part of this project should help out a LOT, so long as he’s really involved and not in name only

So far, movies from Gen-X’s childhood have not worked very well. Here’s hoping “The A-Team” turns that around!