Some
interesting casting rumors have been floating around Hollywood today as
Adam Shankman, the director of New Line’s upcoming Rock of Ages – the big-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical – took to his Twitter feed on Friday night to stir the pot.
Shankman tweets “RUMORS:
t cruise as stacee, Alec Baldwin as Dennis, Mary j as justice, Gwyneth
paltrow as Constance from rolling stone… Sounds crazy :)”
For the uninitiated, Rock of Ages
is a pretty typical love story set in the middle of the 80s’
hair-metal scene. A couple meets, falls in love and tries to
make their relationship last through the sex, drugs and hairspray (I
think Shankman has fetish for the stuff). The director once
referred to the film/show as “Mama Mia! for dudes,” so take from that what you will.
BUT
– this has been on the docket for awhile so I’m sure most of
us already know the backstory. What’s interesting
here are the names being bandied about. Blige has already
signed a deal for her part as Justice, so that’s not really
anything new, but THR tells us that even though there is an offer on the table for Baldwin, his role as Dennis Dupree – “the ex-rocker who runs the Rock of Ages club while he hangs on to his glory days”
– has already been through the hands of both Steve Carell and Will
Ferrell. Gwyneth Paltrow, who’s really been ramping
up her presence in the music world to promote her Country Strong
movie, is being offered a supporting role as a Rolling Stone reporter,
but she apparently hasn’t even read the latest draft of the
script. It all sounds fine and dandy, casting-wise.
But what really gets me excited is the mention of Tom Cruise’s possible involvement as Stacee Jaxx, “the arrogant and charming rock star at the zenith of this career,” sounds like inspired casting. Cruise certainly has the arrogant and charming part down to a science (*snert*) and with Top Gun and Magnolia
under his belt, it’s obvious he’s not afraid to hit
a few notes on camera. Plus, given the type of character
he’d be playing, it will be interesting to see if he gets as
lost in this as he did in his delightful turn as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder.
But again, as of right now these are only rumors – we’ll be sure to keep you posted if anything gets confirmed.