Reboot fever will undoubtedly grip Hollywood any … second … now thanks to “Star Trek’s” out of this world ticket sales.
But one franchise seems invulnerable to the reboot process – “Star Wars.”
It’s hard to imagine “SW” creator George Lucas would let anyone go near his beloved franchise. But what if he decided a reboot was the best way to keep the Yoda dolls and Ewok lunch boxes flying off the shelves?
So who would you cast if they were remaking “Star Wars: A New Hope?” – (that’s the 1977 original for non geeks)
Let’s start with Luke Skywalker, the towheaded Tatooine resident who gets drawn into the galactic battle between good and evil. Owen Wilson has the look down cold, but he’s a little long in the tooth to play a naive soul like Luke. Shia LaBeouf wouldn’t fit, either.
Perhaps a relative unknown like Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliott,” “Defiance”) could make Luke his own.
Jessica Biel would make for a stunning Princess Leia, and just wait until she slips into the “Jedi” metal-kini.
How about Obi-Wan Kenobi? That’s easy. Sir Ian McKellen. No question.
Han Solo would be the hardest casting decision. A friend suggested George Clooney, a good choice but someone who can be a bit too stiff when working with the wrong director.
What say you? Who could bring Han back to life?
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Episode IV was a perfect product. There is no reason to remake or reboot it, except to remove the horrible enhanced changes. (Han shoots first. You can’t be a lovable rogue if you aren’t a rogue first.) I am not as enamored with Episode V as most people are, but I’ll keep it and VI if it means the possibility of any of today’s well known actors screwing up IV.
If they want to reboot I through III, then please go ahead and may I suggest a few changes, like throwing out Lucas’ scripts.
You said owen wilson and it made me think that for Han, Vince Vaughn.
Clooney I think would be too old to play Han. Remember Han, while jaded, has enough optimism to play cowboy in the face of near certain doom. Clooney while cynical enough, doesn’t seem the type to be moved by the rebellion’s ragtag lot. In other words, he’s too old.
Channing Tatum would be my first choice. I could also see Giovanni Ribisi playing a more calculating version of Han.
Am thinking Tatum and Ribisi are too young … Han needs to have a little season … but both intriguing options
i agre with kbiel – would love it if they remade 1,2 & 3. 4, 5, 6 are almost perfect. but just for fun, i would consider maybe Josh Lucas or Liev Schreiber for Han. love the idea of jamie bell as luke.
You are probably right, that Tatum is too young. However, Ribisi is 34 which is how old Harrison Ford was during production of Star Wars. We think of Han as older, because Ford was older than Hamil or Fisher, but he was still fairly young himself. That was part of the charm of Star Wars, the principals were young and vibrant and the antagonists were either faceless or old an imposing. With the exception of Sir Alec Guinness, of course. With McKellan, as spry as he is at seventy, and as fun as his take on the role would be, he might be a touch older than an expected Ben Kenobi. The two actors I would most like see in the role are too young (Jason Isaacs and Hugo Weaving), but since Lucas is never going to do it, it’s fun to play the what if game.
Haven’t you seen Firefly and Serenity? Nathan Fillion would make a terrific Han Solo.
Love Fillion … he was pitch perfect in “Slither,” too.
Is it really that far-fetched that they might reboot A New Hope? Last I heard, it’s the only film in the series that Lucas doesn’t own out-right. I can almost imagine 20th Century Fox rebooting Star Wars and launching its own interpretation of the entire saga, and never mind that annoying little boy. After all, isn’t that was a reboot is all about?
As to casting, I like Nathan Fillion as Han, and let’s cast Adam Baldwin as Chewie. In the reboot, he’s not a big hairy thing that growls, he just growls. And sorry, but Shia gets the Luke role, with his patented snappy dialogue delivery and all. Yes, tongue firmly in cheek, but I’m afraid that anyone wanting to reboot A New Hope wouldn’t be able to resist.
And the thought of Jessica Biel in the metal-kini…well, let’s just say, well done, sir, perfect casting.
Obi Wan would have to be someone wiser, and older, so that means Chris Pine. “Older” becomes a relative term when you’re doing a reboot, and we want that young demographic.
Meanwhile, Kevin Spacey is Grand Moff Tarkin, now able to let Keyser Soze out from behind the mask. Vader becomes a massive CGI robot. Lucas tried it with General Devious in Episode III; here we would see that concept fully realized. George Clooney provides the voice, because in the end, he’s really the hero.
They’re going to have to reboot ep 4, and soon. The racial demographic is right out of the 50s, time to make Star Wars look like America.
You can’t remake Star Wars because you can’t remake Han Solo, which was the missing ingredient from the prequels. Don’t make the same mistake twice.
robert downey jr. for hans?
They re-ran an SNL special the other night with their short films, one of them being a film of the different screen tests for Star Wars. Kevin Spacey was playing the different actors auditioning.
Christopher Walken for Han Solo
Walter Mathaw (sp?) for Obi Wan
Richard Dryfus for 3PO
LOL…..perfect casting
Nathan Fillion, Liev Schreiber or Downey for Solo….SMACK!…sorry, what the hell was I saying? Someone thought of a Star Wars reboot?
Episodes IV through VI, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Episodes I through III, sure, why not?
There is only one man that can pull off Han Solo…because he has been playing the same type of charter through all the Xmen movies and thats Mr. Hugh Jackman!
I think they should remake everything, they should show sidious teaching anakin how to save people, so at the end of the new 6 movie all the masters and padme will come back to life…. I agree Hugh Jackman should play Han Solo.
I’m a little late for this topic, but I would love to see a remake of A New Hope. This is coming from a huge fan of the original trilogy. It could even add elements from the Expanded Universe. How’s that for a nerd alert.
A little late to post this but they don’t have to remake it, just stick with the prequel concept. Make an Episode 3.5 and give Lucas a chance to blend the feel of 1-3 to 4-5 better than he did.
Take out the twins and focus on a young Han, the rising empire, and the rebel uprising. I say Shia LaBeouf as Han (watch Eagle Eye, it’s possible), maybe Columbus Short as Lando, bring Peter Mayhew back for Chewie again and add someone fiery to Hans crew like Jessica Biel who would ultimately betray Han and turn him more solo.
i like robert downy jr as han. i also think terrence howard would be great as lando. Luke would be a tough one to cast though. also am not sure who would play grand moff tarkin.
all in all i think it would be great if they remade the original trilogy IF they change very little. It would be cool to see lucas make the films without the technical limitations he had back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
1) James Franco as Luke- Some would argue he’s to old, but don’t underestimate the capabilities of aging makeup and effects (look at Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” as a prime example. Remember, these characters need to age and mature, which can be difficult to capture with a young, inexperienced actor. Also, no superstar in the part, or else the entire project becomes a joke.
2) Rachel McAdams as Leia- Once again, the age argument factors in, but still the same counter-argument.
3) Mark Wahlberg as Han- Not the most gifted actor in the world, but he’s certainly capable and is a natural fit for the part.
4) Sir Ben Kingsley as Obi-Wan Kenobi- He has a similar presence as Alec Guinness had as the character. I think again a natural fit, and Kingsley has proven time and time again he’s a talented actor.
5) Jeremy Irons as Grand Moff Tarkin- I picture the character slightly younger, but not too much younger! Peter Cushing was so chillingly villianous as the character and it would take an equally chilling actor to fit his shoes.
6) James Earl Jones (voice of vader), Anthony Daniels (at least voice of c-3po) nuff said
I think if they were to remake the original trilogy today here is how they would probably do it:
1. Orlando Bloom as Luke Skywalker
2. Liv Tyler as Princess Leia
3. Luke Wilson as Han Solo
4. Chewie would be CGI
5 and 6. Anthony Daniels as C-3PO and Kenny Baker as R2-D2 that would remain unchanged.
7. Ewan McGregor would come back for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but they would make him older with make-up and stuff.
8.Gary Oldman as Grand Moff Tarkin
9. Hayden Christensen and James Earl Jones would most likely return for the roles of Darth Vader. that is for Episode IV: A New Hope.
The Death Star and all of the ships would be CGI.
Also at the very beginning or on the DVD and Blue -Ray there would be a cut scene of Darth Vader/Anakin at Padme Amidala’s grave on Naboo.
For the Empire Strikes Back: Episode V:
The cast would be the same, except for this one change.
1. Mekhi Phfifer from TV’s “ER” as Lando Calrissian,
2. Yoda would be CGI, but would be voiced by Frank Oz.
3. Ian McDiarmid woud return for the role of Darth Sideous, in fact, the name “Darth Sideous” would be used instead of Emperor Palpatine.
4. Temuera Morrison would return for the role of adult Boba Fett.
5. Ewan McGregor would be the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
6. Andrew Johnston, the guy that played Smegel in Lord of the Rings would be Lobot, Lando Calrissian’s assistant.
For Return of the Jedi, the cast would be the same, there would however, be a flashback from Obi-Wan about the events of Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, bout the famous fight on Mustafar.
Jabba the Hutt would be completely CGI,
and at the end all of the ghosts of the Jedi would appear to Luke, not just Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Yoda, the ghosts of Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, and Shaak Ti, would be among them.
jensen ackles from SUPERNATURAL or bradley cooper as han
Luke Skywalker-Matt Damon-make up to look younger
Darth Vader-anyone tall and built could pull it off
Hans Solo-Bradley Cooper
Princess Leia-Kate Beckinsale or Rachel McAdams
Lando-Terrence Howard or Will Smith
Obi Wan-Ewan Mcgregor or Ian Mckellan
han: ashton kutcher. ive been watching the movies, and almost every scene i see han in i think ashton more and more. hugh jackman is too old, and not pretty enough.
leia: kristen stewart think about it, it just works. jessica beil is too badass.
i do like someones suggestion of mekai pfeiffer as lando
and as for luke, think about emile hirsch. check him out in speed racer. put some justin beiber style hair on him, and he fits the bill damn near perfectly
Hey looked at what alot of you said and I don’t think Lucas will reboot star wars…..but……. with the technology we have for movies now like recreating faces from the past(example: Arnold in the new terminator or bridges in the new tron movie) . This way they can add on and make sequels and we can see if the princess actually becomes a Jedi like her brother Luke. It would be fun and would make millions. Lets face it…. also has anyone read “shadows of the empire” a book set in the time Han is trapped in carbon between empire strikes back and return of the Jedi. That would be a great movie.
I think for Obi Wan Kenobi they could take age make-up and make Daniel Craig look perfect for that part. This may sound crazy, but Josh Hartnett for Han Solo is the way I would go. I don’t think they should get a super seasoned actor like George Clooney, but still get someone with smolder. For Luke and Leia they should cast unknowns, or people that have not been on a lot. The hardest casting would be for Darth Vader. I think they should completely change his sound and appearance. Make him look more monstrous. Maybe Mia Wasikowska for Leia? I always thought Leia and Luke should be identical twins… They should both have blondish hair/ blue eyes. If they do remake these classic movies the powers that be need to follow the same plot point, but they could defiantly use newer special effects and better wardrobe. I still think practical effects are better than CG, but they could use both.
Another point for Daniel Craig is he would be able to do the accent and fight in a stronger saber battle. The powers that be should look critically at the movies and make it as a singular persons idea rather than go into a conference room and attempt to make it box-office-friendly. People will see a Star Wars film. Make it count, do an artful job and people will appreciate the movie for more than 2 months. Also the original trilogy has many flaws in them. Fix ‘em… Make the movie as perfect as possible. Be aware of the fan base, but be willing to make changes. C3 PO and R2D2 are the most important part of these films. That’s why the prequels sucked because them turning C3P0 and R2D2 into jokes.
In many ways, the prequel story line is stronger and more consistent than the original. I think they should have started episode one with Anakin being older. He should be 14 or so… not an annoying 7 yr old asshole. Obi Wan should be a full Jedi Knight not a Padawan. Anakin should not be called “the chosen one” they should invent a fake name for “the chosen one” it was always too cliche to me. Mace Windu should be kind of a “Jedi celebrity” he should be highly thought of and dress in rich fashion. Maul should not die in the first film, but he should go rouge after being defeated by Obi and stripped of his title by Sidious. Dooku should be a “dark Jedi” and a leader of a dark Jedi order. One of these dark Jedi could be Asajj Ventress. This dark order would make the second episode darker and better. Perhaps Anakin could be used to kill the dark Jedi including former friends, maybe a friend introduced in the first film. This would make it clearer for him to go dark side. The reason he changes now is cause he’s a bitch. Darth Vader should have never been made a bitch but a warped twisted man inside a machine.
Dooku should have never been a Sith, maybe one of the many sith hopefuls in the running in the second film, perhaps the film should go into Anakin being a “True Sith” all the others were just hopefuls including Maul. Kind of like the anti-christ. He could be born to be the new sith master?
casting for prequels:
Ralph Fienness- Qui Gon Jinn
Daniel Craig- Obi Wan Kennobi
Jordan Orr- Anakin Skywalker or an unknown
Kristen Stewart- Padme or an unknown
????- Captian Panaka
????- Typho
????- Pilot Calrissian
???- Darth Sideous/ Palpatine
????- Maul
Ralph Fiennes as Qui Gon, Daniel Craig as Obi Wan, Jordan Orr as Anakin, Kristen Stewart as Padme, Jesse Williams as Typho, Dule Hill as Panaka, Jar Jar should be included on this film, but they should change him to a silent warrior who has a life deal with Typho. Paul Bettany as either Dark Sidious or Maul, Michael Pit as Maul? I think maul should be a sith hopeful and killing Obi and Qui Gon is his challenge. If he completes than he can be a full sith, He has to fail… or Obi would die. I like Bettany or a younger Sidious, If you can clone yourself and go into your body, why would you wanna be old and weak. Also he has an appeal that could be used in an election. Very important for the story in Episode one.
Its also important to have Typho, Panaka, and Jar Jar in more of a supporting role. The original trilogy was good because it was like friends on a rode trip. They should do the same with the prequels. If they remake them they should start from one and go to 9… that’s right 9. It is very important to have a better supporting cast in the films since there are like 3 or 4 leads. Like chewy and the droids of the originals…
EVERYONE HAS IT ALL WRONG! I’ve seen some crazy opinions, the craziest of all is someone actually wanted Justin Bieber as Luke Skywalker!!! A child??? From the start, no children…let’s not make a Disney movie nor do we need CGI for characters. It’s too cheap and obvious. People simply “plug” characters i without thinking of chemistry. Singularly, you can find nearly every character replaceable, but these characters have to act together constantly and have some typ of chemistry. There was a “love triangle” between Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Lea. Think of the 3 characters that would share that type of chemistry while STILL maintaining their loyalty to each other right? It’s what made it work. Mark Wahlberg is the BEST choice for Han Solo, and possibly Brad Pitt. He looks rough, he’s dry, funny without cracking a joke, tough and grumpy. NOT Ashton Kutcher??? A straight silly comedian with a boyish face who’s way to tall and skinny…Please, no models…we want REAL characters. Wahlberg would do great with the “love triangle” thing…he’s kind of intraverted too. Luke, as a possible choice, would have to be relatively shorter in height than Han Solo…but not a child though, just smaller. Toby Mcquire, as mentioned by someone in this blog is a pretty good fit. Like the original, he would CONTRAST with Mark Wahlberg perfectly. As far as Princess Lea, no children please…no “little girls”…find a real woman and not a typical actress we’ve seen in bikinis or love scenes. Find a relatively unknown actress with a REAL pure reputation as far as the past roles she’s played. No super models like Jessica Beil or anything that we’ve seen playing slutty girls in other movies. Choose Lea from film “obscurity”, with a reasonable age, and very smart, and simply cute. Choose a PRINCESS TO REPRESENT SOME TYPE OF royalty , not a “shower scene”. Hold true to the original. Darth Vader, Chewy, Yoda…doesn’t matter at all, just don’t insult us with CGI. Please, use real costumes and creations, change the looks JUST A LITTLE, and roll with it. OB1??? The guy was old, didn’t do much, somehwat lethargic, just plain old wise. The guy had all the ansers and he had to play somehwat of a father figure to Luke. I want to say Sean Connery, but I think that we could be overloading the cast with WAY too much star power. His voice his perfect, a little TOO old, but very close to the general idea. Problem with Sean is “star power”…if not, grab another very obscure actor. Even make him look like the original. It’s not going to hurt to have a few copy-cats in the movie. The “evil emperor”? EZ without naming names, just talent and good acting. Finding “evil characters” that are excentric are really not to tough. Just please not someone we’ve seen play bad guys over and over again in other movies like Gene Hackman, John Malkovic…. Let’s face it, there’s going to be alot of make-up so it’s more about the voice and stage presence. For this character you would need to hire a character actor and not someone who plays himslef. Character actors are usually hard to find, but we’re talking about a “bad guy” not a hobbit or genre specific to a time perios…just a real bad guy. This last part is hard to choke out but this is true to stay original. The original was made the way it was, however it was, it wias perfect. Let’s not BUTCHER this remake with the intention of being politicaly correct or trying to “attract a younger crowd”. Please don’t use Byonce as Princess Lea, Jet Li as Luke Skywalker, or Antonio Bandares as Han Solo. Please don’t infer that Lando Calrisian was a homosexual, or make a woman play the role of Jabba the Hutt or Yoda for that matter. If you’re going to remake the greatest movie of all times, remember the times in which the movie was made.
i know that this is way late, but this is my opinion:
i’m a huge fan of the entire star wars saga, especially the original trilogy and the books that follow it. i think that it would be aMAzing if they were to remake the original trilogy, but i think it’s no biggie if they don’t. if the original star wars trilogy WERE to be remade, i’d say to cast bradley cooper or hugh jackman as han, kiera knightly or natalie portman as leia (i always thought leia should resemble her mom to tie the whole thing together a little bit more) or maybe go way out and say hayden panettiere for leia (to have her look more like luke). for luke i’d almost say shia lebeauf (sp?) but he’s a little too badass… maybe someone more like milo ventimiglia, except he’s a little to old to play hayden’s brother xD i’d also step oit there and say maybe adrian pasdar for han (but he’s a little too understated, and might not make a good smuggler) and anton yelchin for luke alongside hayden. for obi-wan i’d o course say ewan mcgregor; i always loved him as obi. for the others, i don’ have any ideas (but i love the idea of will smith playing lando)
if they were to create sequals to the original series, i’d say to start with the truce at bakura, my favorite star wars book, cast pasdar as han, knightly or portman as leia, ventimiglia as luke, and orlando bloom (possibly) as wedge antilles. i’d then go on to say ali larter as gariel capistan, and noah gray-cabey as dev sibwarra.
another great book to make into amovie would be shadows of the empire. for this i’d say the same cast for leia, luke, and wedge, but add in will smith for lando calrissian, bradley cooper (with dyed hair or a wig) as dash rendar, and… well, christopher lee would make a good emporor, but i can’t think of a good vader or prince xizes (what’s-his-name… can’t spell it)
anyways, sorry to seem if i’m pushing opinions down your throat, just ignore me…
p.s. i’d also love to see jack coleman as general dodonna, particularly if panatierre were to play leia
oh! i’d say zachary quinto as vader, espesh after his role as sylar in heroes, and eric banana as prince xixor~