Too good to check: Jamie Foxx in the running to play … Frank Sinatra
posted at 6:59 pm on May 18, 2009 by Allahpundit
Defamer insists it’s just a joke that got out of hand, but I’d rather blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol imbibed by Martin Scorsese’s casting director. I’m onboard with the idea — it’d be fascinating to watch — but only if they go the whole nine yards. Co-starring Don Cheadle as Dean Martin, Antonio Banderas as Joey Bishop, Freida Pinto as Ava Gardner, and, of course, Joe Pesci as Sammy Davis Jr.
Foxx, who won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 film Ray, reportedly considered to be “perfect” for the role. If he is chosen for the part, it will be one of the most prominent examples of “colour-blind” casting in Hollywood history.
Also in the running are George Clooney, Leonardo di Caprio, Harry Connick Jnr and Justin Timberlake.
But an unnamed source told the Daily Express: “Cool is colour-blind.
Jamie would seem to be born to the role.”
Hey, he’d be better than Timberlake. Just so we’re clear here, we’re not talking about Foxx in freaky-deaky whiteface a la Eddie Murphy in the legendary “White Like Me” sketch, right? I’m seeing this as more of a “Down to Earth” concept thing in which cultural constructs like racial identity are neutralized to try to find the essence of Frank. The mob scenes alone would be worth the price of admission.
Blowback
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Says who?
Patrick Swayze is begining to look like Sinatra. And he can dance. So why not? I wonder if he would get on point?
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:01 PM
I got an idea. We should have a movie about Barack Obama and we can have Rosie O’Donnel portray the annointed one!
Vegi on May 18, 2009 at 7:02 PM
I thought Frank Sinatra had blue eyes. Oh well, I thought we were a constitutional republic too.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:02 PM
Dude.
No way in hell should a black guy play Sinatra.
Unless Clooney will play Bob Marley in an upcoming biography flick.
hippie_chucker on May 18, 2009 at 7:03 PM
Read: Historically inaccurate bullcrap derived from political correctness. It’s Hollywood liberals thinking they’re “progressive” by re-writing history.
amerpundit on May 18, 2009 at 7:03 PM
I don’t want to be the one to say no to him.
(Just like you don’t want to be the one to say no to Frank).
RobCon on May 18, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Good idea, and Jessie Ventura can play Michelle Obama. Davis Axelrod can play the family dog.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:04 PM
So long as we can have a movie about MLK with Jeff Foxworthy playing King, I’m down with it.
Blake on May 18, 2009 at 7:04 PM
So awesome.
Weight of Glory on May 18, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Steve Buscemi for Sammy Davis Jr, then.
MadisonConservative on May 18, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Then who plays Elton John?
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Perez Hilton as Nancy Sinatra
Mark1971 on May 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Umm are they sure they want Foxx ?
William Amos on May 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM
The country has cruised right through color blind to stupid.
peacenprosperity on May 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM
I have to say that “Ray” was one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. I was shocked at how snooze-worthy it was. That took real talent.
progressoverpeace on May 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Darryl Strawberry.
MadisonConservative on May 18, 2009 at 7:08 PM
Michael Jackson.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:08 PM
Harry Connick Jr seems like a logical choice. This movie is coming from the same crowd that gave us the disaster of Wild Wild West with Will Smith.
Grunt on May 18, 2009 at 7:08 PM
LMAO, Allah’s into pop culture. That’s what’s up. :D
nickj116 on May 18, 2009 at 7:08 PM
Hmmm Strawberry and M.J. dang.. that is bad!
**grabs crotch, OOOWWW**
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:09 PM
Bozo the Clown can play Joe Biden.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:09 PM
It’s really not fair.
For the most part in pop culture today, white people (especially white guys) are told that they aren’t smooth…that they don’t have class and style and that they definitely can’t dance.
Sinatra would be a fun character for an actor to play…a chance to be the stylish/classy guy (and not have to speak with a British accent).
On the other hand, I’m sure that black actors are also frustrated with the number of “gangster #2″, “thug #7″ rolls that they get casting calls for, so, it must also be nice for them to have the chance to play such an iconic character.
In the end, it all depends on the style of the film. If it’s realism, it will ruin the film to have something that’s so non-realistic in there. If it’s more of a stylistic film, it’ll be fine.
I think they should really push boundaries and give the roll to Lindsey Lohan. That’s when we’ll know that we’re a truly classless society.
JadeNYU on May 18, 2009 at 7:10 PM
yeah, but we know what he needs. That is the problem.
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:10 PM
Didn’t he die?
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Bernie Madoff can play Tim Geithner.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:12 PM
OK, then he can play Helen Thomas.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:13 PM
LMFAO! NICE!
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Good point, but let’s not forget Diana Ross playing Dorothy Gale. Not the blockbuster Hollywood imagined.
sherry on May 18, 2009 at 7:15 PM
Barack Hussein Obama can play all the parts.
He’s the greatest … in everything imaginable.
progressoverpeace on May 18, 2009 at 7:15 PM
Epic Failure!
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 7:17 PM
I’m seeing this as yet another example of PC gone mad! Being an Italian myself I can assure you Frank would roll over in his grave if Foxx portrayed him…would that make him raaaacccciiist in todays day and age? I’dsay probably, but I guess you’d have to ask Sammy Davis Jr. if Frank was a bigoted racist, however they’re not here to ask but the fact that Frank and Sammy were good fiends to the end and Frank stuck up for Sammy whenver anyone dared to be bigoted toward him (at a time when bigotry was much more of an issue than it is now) I’d have to say Frank wasn’t a racist but in today’s ultra-PC world he would be labeled as a racist if he expressed he would prefer someone of Italian decent play him, or at the very least a white guy!
So, who’s going to play Sammy Davis in this movie, Downey Jr. ala Tropic Thunder?
Hollywood and the ultra PC crowd are off their rockers!
Liberty or Death on May 18, 2009 at 7:17 PM
Frank is gonna rise outta his grave and smite them all!
GoodBoy on May 18, 2009 at 7:18 PM
I vote for Barack Obama to play Professor Obama and Mr Hussien in the remake of Dr.Jeckle and Mr. Hyde.
Sigmund on May 18, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Janeane Garofalo plays the part of Nancy Sinatra.
If we’re going to be PC, lets go for broke.
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 7:21 PM
Yeah I bet if they got Edward Norton to portray Malcolm X that’d be considered a prominent example of a “colour-blind” Hollywood too.
John Travolta to play Obama…
Skywise on May 18, 2009 at 7:21 PM
Oh. That would be awesome! He wouldn’t even need any makeup or a script (I caught your last post on this). We all know that he can ad-lib much better than that hack Stevenson could write (well … we’ll let TOTUS come along, just in case).
progressoverpeace on May 18, 2009 at 7:21 PM
Y’know, he might not be bad. Casting against race is harder to pull off on film/TV than is color-blind casting in theater, where the audience is expected to bring a greater amount of imagination to the performance, but I think Foxx is one of the few actors who could actually pull it off.
And for all the folks saying, “when Sammy Davis Jr. is played by a white guy” — nobody’s done it for a celebrity part yet, but y’know, roles get whitified all the time. That based-on-a-true-story blackjack movie a while back turned all the (real-life) Asian principals into whites for the movie, and M. Night Shyamalan is casting white folks as Asian-identified characters in THE LAST AIRBENDER. So it does happen in the other direction. I honestly don’t think it’s been done with such a prominent individual, though. Only their friends and family knew the folks from the blackjack movie; EVERYBODY knows Frank Sinatra.
I say, let Foxx play him. Why not? At the least, it’ll be interesting. Even if they go with another actor, I’d love to see Foxx’s screen test.
Well-Armed Lamb on May 18, 2009 at 7:22 PM
HA!
Weight of Glory on May 18, 2009 at 7:22 PM
LMFAO! DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WEENER!
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Can they make him look like the skinny little guinea wop that Sinatra was?
BL@KBIRD on May 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Funny how it’s always the white man getting screwed over and replaced in order to find this “essence.” Auster has it right: “…race-blind neoconservatism or right-liberalism leads to race-conscious (and at least implicitly anti-white) multiculturalism.”
Horowitz’s total sell-out to the principle of multiculturalism
Noonan embraces the principle of race-conscious multiculturalism
2Brave2Bscared on May 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Who will Obama play then?
OK, he can play Hugo Chavez.
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Jesus Christ, Super Star.
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Why be colorblind and not gender-blind? It’s only fair. How about age? Why shouldn’t an old Indian man be able to play Annie in a production, for instance?
Joe Caps on May 18, 2009 at 7:26 PM
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:27 PM
I’d prefer Verne Troyer to play Obama.
progressoverpeace on May 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Teach me Obey-One, you’re my only HOPE!
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
And I’d prefer PeeWee Herman to play Obama.
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 7:30 PM
I like that.
progressoverpeace on May 18, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Knuckle, who plays Chairy?
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:32 PM
A major storyline between Frank and Sammy would become inoperable. Frank paved the way for Sammy to become accepted in clubs and venues that were predominantly white. Just how would that be dealt with?
Actually “The Rat Pack” is already a pretty good version, I had a little time buying the casting in that one but once I got beyond that it is actually a great movie and seemed pretty faithful to the story.
echosyst on May 18, 2009 at 7:32 PM
If I am your only HOPE, you had best bend over a kiss your arse goodbye!
MB4 on May 18, 2009 at 7:32 PM
I’ve also heard that Will Farrell is going to play Martin Luther King Jr. in big budget bio.
Star20 on May 18, 2009 at 7:33 PM
**Snaps fingers**
I don’t think I am that ambidextrous. But I will let you know!
upinak on May 18, 2009 at 7:34 PM
Gary Coleman.
Or he could play the role of Sammie.
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Cheech Marin to play Harry Reid.
Alec Baldwin to play…aw, crap, it doesn’t matter, little wanker can’t act.
john1schn on May 18, 2009 at 7:39 PM
If they are stupid enough to do this, there will be a certain organization of gentlemen that will be upset. Plus, the movie itself will bomb worse than the anti-American movies about Iraq.
kingsjester on May 18, 2009 at 7:40 PM
I for one am THRILLED. Liberal lunacy on display, and FS can’t be duplicated. The Rat Pack remakes were torture….Foxx hates America and Scorcese (Gangs of NY) hates America, so have at it. I hope they spend many millions on this fiasco.
nondhimmie on May 18, 2009 at 7:44 PM
That’s nothing, they are have Amy Winehouse slated to play Wilt Chamberlain’s role in his autobiographical movie.
TheSitRep on May 18, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Bernie Madoff is Tim Geithner. Ever seen them together?
I rest my case.
platypus on May 18, 2009 at 7:46 PM
It’s becoming more and more obvious that doofpundit has as much an idea what “nuance” means as he does what “allah” means.
TTheoLogan on May 18, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Drunk again fake military man?
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 7:54 PM
WHOA! Smacking the host in the face for no apparent reason.
Wazzup wid dat?
platypus on May 18, 2009 at 7:55 PM
Has anybody seen Franks family? They must be sh**ting BRICKS. BWAAAHAAA
faol on May 18, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Is there any other industry than Hollywood that get to so blatantly discriminate on race in hiring practices?
frankj on May 18, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Them Jersey boy’s aint gonna let no moolie play Frankie boy.
Martin meet the real Tony S.
faol on May 18, 2009 at 7:59 PM
That’s what he does. You should have seen the display last night when he went after blatentblue.
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 8:00 PM
From gangster to gangsta.
For what it’s worth though, I would pay to see a redo of “Roots” as played by the cast of “Seinfeld”.
Guardian on May 18, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Um, Sinatra was Hispanic.
carbon_footprint on May 18, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Foxx as Sinatra makes as much sense as Harrison Ford playing Obama and Will Smith as John McCain in a film about the election.
Jay Mac on May 18, 2009 at 8:11 PM
But I don’t wanna be Kunta Kinte!
Obviously a joke. I hope. Please Lord.
emailnuevo on May 18, 2009 at 8:12 PM
Who’s going to play Marilyn?
Blake on May 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM
The Just-Us Bros. (JJ & Al)
platypus on May 18, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Barney Frank…and as Sammy Davis Jr, Woody Allen
Wade on May 18, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Care to accuse me of anything else tonight?
blatantblue on May 18, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Oprah
Wade on May 18, 2009 at 8:31 PM
It’s PERFECT! How about James Caan as Martin Luther King!?
marklmail on May 18, 2009 at 8:32 PM
How about David Duke?
Wade on May 18, 2009 at 8:33 PM
I’m holding out for Snoop Dogg as George Washington and Angelina Jolie as Ben Franklin. Daffy Duck will play Julius Caesar, who will be put into the Continental Congress via a little poetic license. This will be just like history class in public schools, today.
progressoverpeace on May 18, 2009 at 8:34 PM
It may not fly in Hoboken, but I would actually be into seeing Jamie Fox take on Old Blue Eyes.
Would he do a reverse Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder and go in white face (with blue contacts) or just do it au naturale?
Mr. Joe on May 18, 2009 at 8:46 PM
How about Jimmy Cann as Sammy Davis Junior. That would be cool.
Mr. Joe on May 18, 2009 at 8:47 PM
This is so absurd, I got nothin’. (bangs head on desk)
thomasaur on May 18, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Don Cheadle in black-face playing Jamie Foxx in white-face playing Frank Sinatra…
My head hurts; I should sit down…
CaptFlood on May 18, 2009 at 9:01 PM
This is from the same bizarro universe where we pick Supremes based on empathy.
TexasDan on May 18, 2009 at 9:01 PM
I have a boo boo from TTheo Logan from last night
Gimme a kiss?
blatantblue on May 18, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Oh, and sorry for thread-jacking, but I’m watching the season ender of ’24.’ Yet another twenty-four overwrought hours of Jack Bauer never taking a leak, or a drink, or even grabbing a pack of Skittles from a nearby vending machine. At the end of each season I swear ‘never again,’ yet like Charlie Brown hoping against hope that that bitch Lucy will finally let him kick the damn football, there I am sitting in front of the tube like an imbecile each new season, ready to give it one more go.
I don’t know, though; after this year’s global warming PSAs and Janeen Garofalo’s greasy mug, maybe I’ll finally be motivated enough to find a better use of my time… I hear that ‘ship in a bottle’ thing can be a real hoot…
CaptFlood on May 18, 2009 at 9:28 PM
I wonder who Jamie has been…um…paying off. He’s ugly and not that great an actor. (Okay, I’ve been boycotting him since he tried to keep Arnold from executing the notorious Stanley “Tookie” Williams.)
baldilocks on May 18, 2009 at 9:35 PM
Ha!
baldilocks on May 18, 2009 at 9:40 PM
Did you see what he did last night?
You were mentioned
blatantblue on May 18, 2009 at 9:42 PM
And Alec Baldwin will play MLK.
Akzed on May 18, 2009 at 9:45 PM
No. Link?
baldilocks on May 18, 2009 at 9:57 PM
IDK my computer is being a piece of shi’ite so
go to the “Obama at Notre Dame: lets something something about child murder.
the madness starts on page 5?
you come up at page 6?
youll understand
blatantblue on May 18, 2009 at 10:05 PM
I hate color blind casting. Paying admission to a stage show only to see a black man and white woman playing parents to an asian girl is so destructive to whatever fictional world they’re trying to create. So when Foxx is cast, do they change his nickname from Old Blue Eyes to Old Brown Eye? Foxx is a horrible actor and Scorcese must be back on the coke if he really is serious.
chicagojedi on May 18, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Hahahaha!
baldilocks on May 18, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I hope you share in some of the joy I had last night
as seen by my many
LWJRJAHAHAHAHAHA’s
blatantblue on May 18, 2009 at 10:24 PM
You need to bookmark that link and save it for posterity. Keep that baby handy so you aren’t accused of being “lazy” when the drunken fake military man reappears.
Kiss for your booboo.
Knucklehead on May 18, 2009 at 10:39 PM
uh — AWESOME!
blatantblue on May 18, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Why not Yao Ming for the Sammy Davis Jr. role?
You heightist.
Deconstruction, baby!
hillbillyjim on May 19, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Cast Cher as Sammy.
orville on May 19, 2009 at 12:13 AM
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