Wednesday, January 12, 2011

It's My Trumpet And I'm Going To Blow It

Thanks to everyone who came out to meet me at Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds last weekend. It was nice chatting to you all. Looking forward to Lakeside and Bluewater a week on saturday, 22nd January.

Some great comic feedback came in while I was away, so I thought I'd link it here:

Let's start with this.

Then this.

Then this.

Then this.

Then this.

Then this.

And finally but not least....this.

Mmmh. Nice warm glow. And at the risk of becoming so fething pleased with myself you all hurl and never talk to me again, may I just thank all the readers out there for making Prospero Burns the number one SF book in the UK and the US this week, and popping it straight in to the New York Times Mass Market Fiction Bestseller's List.


Okay, now I'd like to point you all in the direction of the blog by Viktor and Magnus Nystrom, which you can find here. Just scroll down and enjoy. The guys have been involved in this awesome project for a while now, and the blog recounts the whole history and development of it.

They're coming to an end now. I think they deserve a large number of hearty pats on the back - I've tried to give them a little feedback as they've gone along, but it really is all down to them. here's a little taster image:



I bestow upon them the first Awesome Sauce Award for 2011, and invite you all to go tell them how splendidly they've done.

FINALLY finally, I was thinking that maybe it was time we started doing a little casting. Haven't done that for a while. Let's see how ideas have changed. And we'll begin with Gaunt's Ghosts. If the books became a movie, who would you cast? And it can be a fantasy cast of all time fave actors and actresses, too!

54 comments:

Irregular Joe said...

Y'know, I could almost see Bill Nighy as a very old Gaunt, but I worry that he might be too short..

Shadowheim said...

Jeff Bridges as Corbec! Wow, I was gonna name all the originals and who'd act them, but now you've gon and put me on the spot, I'm really struggling!

Dukeleto said...

haha this again?
I'm sticking with Daniel Craig as Gaunt,
Christian Bale as Rawne,
Ray Stevenson as Bragg,
Robert Carlisle as Larkin,

Roles for Billy Connely and Sean Bean, anyone?

Dukeleto said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dukeleto said...

Jeff Bridges as Corbec (yes, I did just see Tron Legacy)

Madclaw said...

I really think Tim Roth as Larkin would be aces and I 'll go with popular opinion on Jeff Bridges.

The dude abides.

Greg C. said...

After looking at the sculpts, and realizing that Tona Criid is blonde, as opposed to the dark hair I always envisioned, I'd have to go with Kristana Loken. Wow! Now, who would make for a suitable Caff??

Dju said...

Sticking with :
- Hugh Laurie as Gaunt
- Ray Park as MkVenner
- Willem Dafoe as Larkin (or possibly Cuu)
- Vincent Cassel as Cuu
- Ron Pearlman as Soric
- Me as the Ghost extra who gets his head shot off ?

Dukeleto said...

Hugh Laurie is a comic actor. The success of House notwithstanding, he would never fly as Gaunt with a British audience.

Ray Park can't act. You can choreograph fight scenes with actors, use stunt doubles, and when all else fails, use CGI, but you can't teach a martial artist to emote. That said, Tamoh Penikett might be good as Ven, altho I've never heard him with a Brit accent.

Willem Defoe is too big to be Larkin, but otherwise good.
Vincent Cassel as Cuu, maybe, and Pearlman as Soric could definitely work.

Andrew said...

Mark Strong as Gaunt? That may not be popular, but I like his jawline for the part.
Tom Hardy as Varl.
Sharlto Copley as Larkin. He's mad enough.
James Franco as Caffran.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brin Milo.
I like Ray Stevenson as Bragg and Jeff Bridges circa The Big Lebowski as Corbec.
Vincent Cassel is wayyyy too tall IMO to play Cuu, who should be samll and nasty. He's got a face and build to play MkVenner, though.

TheSGC said...

Morgan Freeman as The Emperor. That is all.

Boom said...

Here's a list of just the original Tanith that I would cast for a first movie.

Gaunt - Paul Bettany. Fits Gaunt's physical characteristics to a tee and has the acting chops.
Milo - Ryan Kwanten. Such a tough choice really to coose for Milo.
Corbec - Kevin McKidd. Again fits the physical aspects, with dyed hair, and can act the part. Hell, he was an officer of Caesar.
Rawne - Alexander SkarsgÄrd. Dark, handsome, and ruthless. Look at True Blood and Generation Kill. Substitute would be Jude Law.
Feygor - Jason Statham. He knows how to be a trouble maker and a tough son of a bitch.
Dorden - Jeff Bridges. This is where I would put the now "senior" actor.
Mkoll - James Franco. He has that quiet, serious manner about him and can command the screen when he wants. Just Like the lead scout.
Mkvenner - Matt Damon. Look at the Bourne series.
Varl - Ryan Reynolds. Varl is a joker after all.
Caffran - Chris Pine. Would definitely grow well in Caff's shoes.
Larkin - Ben Foster. Yeah the kid from the first Punisher movie with all the piercings who plays a neo-nazi in Alpha Dog and a startled crew member in Pandorum. If anyone could be as believably unhinged as Larkin it's him.
Bragg - Vin Diesle. He's a big dude, he's an action star, and a lot of his roles have revolved around him protecting a character younger than himself aka Milo. He could also play Brostin, see Riddick for that cast.

Well there's my first movie Ghost cast.

Dukeleto said...

Kevin Mckidd, James Franco and Ben Foster are all FAR too young for those roles. Paul Bettany is a good call, if Daniel Craig isn't available.
I love Matt Damon, but part of the reason he's great as Bourne is he LOOKS harmless. Mkvenner looks like, well... like you should look somewhere else!

Ravenkeeper said...

Ibram Gaunt: Jeremy irons, maybe a little too old now. but in his prime years. hell yeah.

Colm Corbec: Gerade butler.

Elim rawne: Jensen Ackles

Hlain Larkin: Williem dafoe

tolin dorden: Bill connolly

Tona criid: milla jovovich.

Dermon Caffran: ? total loss here, none springs to mind ^^;

Viktor Hark: Karl Urban

oan Mkoll: Richard Brake

Gol Kolea: jason statham

Ana Curth: Stana Katic

try again bragg: hmm can't think of an actor that combines the size need for bragg, with the talent.

ceglan varl: ryan Renolds

brin milo: total loss here.

Murtan Feygor: David Tennant

Agun Soric: can't quite decide between Ray Winstone and Brendan Gleeson

and that's what I could come up ^^

Ayatani Zweil: Christopher lloyd

well that's what I could come up with just off the top of my head

Henning said...

Daniel Craig as Ibram Gaunt
Billy Conolly as Colm Corbec
Ron Perlman as Brostin
Jeremy Irons as Tactitian Biota

Will Wright said...

Anyone who can make the Marvel Comsmic entertaining and relevant deserves a big ole toot.
Let me ask you this,If marvel said you can have any character/book and run with it,which would it be?
With all these number ones how much pull do you have with Marvel these days?
That might not be too far fetched.

Boom said...

I understand what you're saying Duke but remember those would be my choices for a founding movie. If you were to base them off the characters at the current run that the Ghost's books are at then they would definitely not work but if they are fresh off the founding then they would definitely work really well based off of they previous work as actors.

Chaz Dane said...

I always saw Gaunt as looking a lot like Harrison Ford. Weathered, but far from gone. (Obviously at 68 he's a bit beyond it now)

Viggo Mortensen could do a good MkVenner. He can look very dangerous and has the right physique.

Gerrard Butler is pretty much the only person I think could pull off Corbec.

And what about Johnny Depp as Rawne? Plausible? He's an incredibly versatile actor and I think he'd be able to pull it off.

Alex said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alex said...

I have to agree with Boom's choices with the exception of Vin diesel for Bragg. He just aint big enough for me, although it is difficult to think of an actor who is big enough and has the acting talent. Also maybe a blonde Natalie Portman as Tona Criid?

HiWayRobry said...

Feygor, for some reason, was my favorite character aside from Mkvenner. Brilliant choice of Jason Statham Boom!
And I think the late Pete Postlethwaite would have been a great Doc Dorden. And Mila Kunis as Tona Criid.

David Harper said...

Hey Dan, I wanted to share Multiversity Comics' video review of Thanos Imperative: Devastation as well. I'm glad you liked our written review, and you might have fun with our video one as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QM6gSL2SeQ

Ben said...

Gaunt-Hugh Laurie from TV's HOUSE or Daniel Day Lewis.

Rwane-Jeremy Renner
Corbec-Jeff Bridges
Larkin-Willem Dafoe
Caff-Casey Affleck
Harkin-R Lee Ermey

Anonymous said...

steve buschimi as larks

Michael Chiklis as soric (or Al Murry :) )

Cristian Bale as Guant

Jason sta...stath...stanh....the guy of snatch as Gol

jake the muss.....ahem... temuera morrison as Ezrah

and orlando bloom as Milo

Michael Clarke Duncan as bragg ( i know, i know. but still)

Richard von Wittgensteyn said...

Some Generals....;-):

Lord General Dravere - Brian Cox
Lord General Sturm - Bernard Hill
Senior Chief Tactician Antonid Biota - Bill Nighy
Lord General Van Voytz - Kenneth Branagh

Will Wright said...

BTW I totally forgot
Congrats on snagging a NY times bestseller.

Raymond said...

Gaunt: Hugo Weaving by far! He IS a commissar in his spare time.

Corbec: Let's throw in Sir Sean Connery.

Rawne: Michael Madsen, he IS a badass

Larkin: Johnny Depp (mad)

Mkvenner: Christopher Lambert(wily)

Mkoll: Matt Damon

Zweil: Morgan Freeman. He has to in a film for it to be any good.

Doc dorden: Patrick Stewart (yeah, but wearing a wig offcourse)

Tona Criid: Uma Thurman all the way

Can keep going, but the basics are here...now you go and give them a ring Dan!

Alex said...

Congratulations about Prospero burns!

I'd agree with ben about
Corbec: jeff bridges
Larkin: Willem Defoe
Caffran: Casey Affleck
Casting Gaunt...damn hard choice! I'd pick Christoph Waltz or Clint Eastwood from his middle age years. He's hard boiled enough.
Dorden: John Hurt
Mkoll: viggo Mortensen
Brostin or Soric: ron pearlman.
Rawne: robert Carlyle or Daniel Day-lewis
Bragg: It's got to be The Rock :D
Meryn: Benedict Cumberbach
Varl: Bradd pit.
Jessi Banda: Antonia Thomas from Misfits if she was a bit older.

Chris said...

My choices:
Gaunt - Damien Lewis (Richard Winters in Band of Brothers - might have to dye his hair though)
Corbec - Darragh O'Malley (Patrick Harper in the Sharpe series)
Rawne - Sean Pertwee
Feygor - Vinnie Jones
Daur - Christian Bale
Caffran - Daniel Radcliffe
Criid - Summer Glau (with blonde hair)
Dorden - I second John Hurt
Curth - Nicola Bryant (Peri from Dr Who)
MkVenner - Ewan McGregor
Larkin - Pete Postlethwaite would have been perfect IMO (or for Mkoll), maybe Steve Buscemi
Bragg - Jason Statham
Cuu - Michael Madsen

Stuck on, amongst others, Mkoll, Hark, Kolea and Milo though.

Leif said...

Bud Spencer as Bragg.

Anonymous said...

Gaunt Daniel Craig
Corbec Hugh Jackman
Rawne Sean Bean
Criid Keira Knightley
Kolea Ron Pearlman
Dorden Ron Rifkin
Mkoll Tommy Flanagan
Larkin Sharlto Copley
Caffran Matt Damon
Bragg Kevin Durand
Curth Kate Beckinsale
Zweil Frank Langella
Cuu Tim Roth

Dukeleto said...

Robert David Hall from CSI as Doc Dorden?

Dukeleto said...

Keira Knightly as Criid, seriously??
Guys you are so on the wrong track , Tona Criid is NOT a babe, she's razor-sharp and hard as nails. Really, you want Ellan Ripley crossed with Jack from Mass Effect II.

I've heard Michelle Rodriguez suggested but I can't get my head around her ethnicity. Maybe, MAYBE Eliza Dushku would do a good job, she's a cracking actress with excellent action experience.

Will Wright said...

Eliza would make a superb Kara Swole

TheSGC said...

Matt Damon with Caff is the one choice that strikes me the most as "awesome". Loved his performance in SPR and Bourne series and Oceans series..and...um...well, he's great in most if not all movies he's in.

Jack Fitzpatrick said...

Gary oldman as Pious Kowle. that is all.

Anonymous said...

Thought daniel day-lewis as gaunt but if he`s to old i`d throw in a curve ball with Ryan Gosling.

Did also consider Hugo Weaving but he fits Eisenhorn so perfectly.

Defo Viggo Mortensen as Mkoll.

Liev Schreiber all bearded up is corbec,failing that he`d suit Fischig.

Been thinking about this lots but been difficult.

Got a clearer vision of Eisenhorn.

Eisenhorn - Hugo Weaving
Fischig - Liev Schreiber
Bequin - Yvonne Strahovski (i think im in love with her)
Nayl - Dan Craig (dunno about him with a shaved head though)
Cherubael - Paul Bettany
Midas Betancore - Djimon Hounsou
Kara - Kate Bekinsale

could prob swap Kara and Bequin if you`d prefer.

Anonymous said...

Was watching true blood last night and Steven Moyer who plays bill would make a fantastic Gaunt.

Big said...

Im getting Hungry for more Ghosts.....Salvations Reach is not a book i have chased Dan about because i cant wait for the pleasent surprise of opening a new book and being taken aback by the superb content and meeting old friends within the pages.
Heres to Salvations Reach!
Long Live the Tanith

Unknown said...

Who would we cast for a Gaunt's Ghost movie series!?

Ibram Gaunt: Paul Bettany
Colm Corbec: John Rhys-Davies
Elam Rawne: either Sean Bean or Christian Bale
Try-Again Bragg: Ray Stevenson
Ayatani Zweil: nothing jumps to mind, but some aged, small guy from India, as, from the description and the sound of terms they use (Ayatani, Infardi) it seems more Indian (IMO).
Tona Criid: Summer Glow :) just dye her hair blond, and she would grow into the role over the years, from hab ganger on Vervunhive to Gereon.

I know a lot of people like Daniel Craig, but I'd hate for him to be cast a Gaunt, only for the Eisenhorn movies to also be made and him not play Eisenhorn.

Unknown said...

plenty o suggestions about the core group, but for some of the rest

Cuu : Sam Rockwell
Mkvenner : Neil or Adrian Rayment (they played the Twins in the Matrix sequels. remember, mkvenner is meant to be tall, and they got about 10 black belts between the pair of em)
Hark : Josh Brolin
Zweil : Tony Amendola (Bra'tac in SG-1)

Bomster said...

I'm going mostly with those actors that look/act most closely to what I imagine when reading the books:

Oddly enough, when I read the Gaunt books I always see Larry Rew as Gaunt. Commisaar Holt from Final Liberation obviously left a bigger mark on me than I thought...

Danny Webb (Alien3) would make a nice Larkin IMO. (He's got some 40k pedigree having read some of the BL audiobooks, too)

Viggo Mortensen would be a nice Mkoll.

Some more:

Anthony Hopkins as Doc Dorden

Ray Winstone as Trooper Brostin

James Purefoy as Elim Rawne

Mads Mikkelsen as Eszrah ap Niht

Sean Bean as Colm Corbec

Ray Stevenson as Gol Kolea

Brad Dourif as Lija Cuu

Eric Bana as Mkvenner

Radha Mitchell as Tona Criid

Frank John Hughes (Bill Guarnere in Band of Brothers) as Commissar Hark

Robert Carlysle als Maggs

Ron Perlman might be nice as either Agun Soric or Bragg

Brian Cox or Ian McShane as VonVoytz

Xhalax said...

Personally....I think you're all completely out of your gourds with you choices!

Robimus said...

This is a lot of fun! So weird choices above, but who am I to judge. Though some of you most certainly have cerebral worms.

Here's me list.

Gaunt: Michael Fassbender
Rawne: Andy Whitfield
Faygor: Ray Stevenson
Mkoll: Rufus Sewell
Bonin: Ben Barnes
Milo: Aneurin Barnard
Corbec: Gerard Butler
Caffran: Toby Kebbell
Larkin: Robert Carlyle
Soric: Sean Pertwee
Kolea: Kevin McKidd
Ban Daur: Sean Maher
MkVenner: Luke Goss
Commissar Hark: John Noble
Jessi Banda: Kate Magowan
Major Baskevyl: James Purfoy
Varl: Tom Hardy
Bragg: Jai Courtney
Cuu: Karel Roden
Dordon: Wayne Pygram
Shoggy Domor: David Wenham
Doctor Curth: Lena Headey
General Sturm: Colm Feore

I'm ff to check for worms.

Anonymous said...

Keeping in mind what the Big "C" can do to your physique, and that he'll come in knowing a thing or two about swordplay, I'd say Andy Whitfield as Gaunt.
Then there's the other side of the action: fighting styles can make or break any movie that hinges on warfare. With the Straight Silver, I'd recommend either Krav Maga or Silat for all the Tanith. For Gaunt, I'd recommend a look at George Silver's 15th c. English Broadsword manuals; a distinct and elegant style that most folk haven't seen.
With the las, I'd recommend that any real training in ground tactics not start until the start of filming, showing a marked difference in the way that troops move in battle as they acquire experience; or take them out for paint-ball in a heavily-wooded area so they can get a (admittedly crude) sense of what force-on-force is like.

HiWayRobry said...

Ok, Dan. Now that we've all gotten that out of our systems we all want to know: What are your picks for casting the GG movie? I mean, nobody knows these characters or has an idea of what they look like more than you!

Anonymous said...

definitively christian bale for rawne
alan rickman for feygor
christina slater for beltyan
mark whalberg for caffran
oleg taktarov for bragg can't see anyone better :D
sean connery as DR Dorden or ayat. zweil
diane kruger for tona criid
jean reno for brostin :)
benno furmann as mkoll
bear grylls for mkvenner if he can :D
nick nolte for corbec
evidently elias koteas as LARKIN !


and the hardest gaunt ... someone said daniel craig, it was my first choice too but, he is too ... 007? :D
actually i think of aaron eckhart

i think of so much peoples but im gonna stop here :)

Dri said...

TANITH
gaunt - hugh laurie
corbec - brendan gleeson
rawne - michael wincott
feygor - richard brake
domor - tony curran
dorden - james cosmo
mkoll - ben daniels
varl - gerard butler
caffran - danny dyer
larkin - brad dourif
milo - daniel radcliffe
bragg - dominic purcell
meryn - zachary quinto
mkvenner - clive owen
bonin - wes bentley
brostin - adam fogerty


VERGHASTITE
kolea - peter stormare
daur - daniel craig
soric - stellan skarsgard
criid - radha mitchell
banda - jodi lyn o'keefe
bourah - sienna guillory
cuu - robert knepper
vamberfeld - ewen bremmer
curth - nicole de boer
dalin - jamie bell


BELLADONIAN
baskevyl - nathan fillion
volosim - thomas kretschmann


IMPERIAL(good)
sabbat - morena baccarin
blenner - stephen fry
zoren - dennis haysbert
van voytz - r lee ermey
biota - david hyde pierce
gilbear - nick chinlund
zweil - john hurt
ezrah - vinnie jones
jagdea - lena headey
wilder - tom hanks
hark - ray stevenson
ludd - ben foster
oktar - rip torn
cirk - michelle forbes
landerson - michael c hall


IMPERIAL(bad)
dravere - gerard depardieu
flense - gary lewis
brochuss - kevin grevioux
fereyd - arnold vosloo
sturm - peter weller
dercius - dean norris


CHAOS
pater sin - clancy brown
mabbon - james remar

Dri said...

Oh, forgot to mention that I take no credit for the above casting. My brother's opinions and I agree with around half of them.

Podzy said...

I've noticed a lot of people have had a hard time filling Braggs role - how about Michael Cudlitz from Band of Brothers? He played Bull Randleman. Got the size and fits the bill perfectly. Eion Bailey from the same series would make a great Ban Daur to.

Have a look and see what you think!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185906/

Anonymous said...

would it be wrong for Chuck Norris to spring to mind.

Clive Owen as Gaunt
Sean Bean as Rawne
Cillian murphy as Caffran
Jeff Bridges as Corbec...wouldnt have thought of it myself but is a great choice.
John Tams (Hagman)as Larkin.
Daniel Craig as Hark - scary eyes!

Zoroeyes said...

I can't believe nobody has suggested Liam neeson as Gaunt?

Getting a bit grizzled nowdays and he's doing a few more action role, and he even has the accent??

Anonymous said...

Dead serious. Liam Neeson as Gaunt.
Jason Isaacs as Elim Rawne. He always reminded me of a snake...
Kevin Durand as Try-Again Bragg.
Sting as "Mad" Hlaine Larkin. Anyone remember him as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, I think he could get the ready-to-snap Larkin down.
I see Billy Connely as a good Doc Dorden.
And finally, I definitely agree with Jeff Bridges as Colm Corbec.eh?

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised no One mentioned Sean Bean for Mkoll with his sharpe background and all. Vigo Mortensen would also make a grey Ven after seeing him As strider.