Here’s another one of those ‘what if’ casting situations for another iconic role. In a new interview screenwriter Stuart Beattie, who is credited as one of the “Story By” writers for Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, revealed that he original wrote the role of Captain Jack Sparrow with Hugh Jackman in mind, and even named the character after the actor.

From Fox411:

“I initially wrote that character with Hugh Jackman in mind,” screenwriter Stuart Beattie told Pop Tarts at the Advance Lounge Chair series in Los Angeles. “Hence the name Captain JACK Sparrow.”

At the time, Jackman was a prominent actor in Beattie’s homeland of Australia, but was not yet a big on the international scene, prompting the folks at Disney to dismiss Beattie’s casting contribution and instead hunt down Johnny Depp for the role.

Luckily for Jackman he landed the role of Wolverine which has kept him busy over the years, but it’s always interesting to consider what could have been. As we prepare for our fourth outing with Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, but I think Jackman could have made it his own.

Read similar posts to Hugh Jackman could have been Captain Jack Sparrow at Filmonic

When James Cameron first approached 20th Century Fox for $250+ million to make a 3D movie at a time when hardly any 3D screens were in function, and with technology that had not yet been used in film, their first thought was probably: “Is Will Smith available?”

Although after realising that a Na’vi with the face of Will Smith would look unintentionally hilarious they probably searched around for other A-List actors to play the lead, and they did. Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhall to name a few. However Cameron insisted on an unknown, and he eventually insisted on Sam Worthington.

The list of iconic film roles that almost went to other actors is a long and continuous one. O.J. Simpson as the Terminator? Kurt Russell as Han Solo? Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly?! To this bunch, add Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal.

As James Cameron confirmed to MTV News, both those A-listers were being considered for the starring role of Jake Sully in “Avatar,” a part that ultimately went to then-unknown Australian actor Sam Worthington.

“They were bandied about,” the director said. “The studio was interested in having a name, I think really just for the part of it we’re doing right now, which is, ‘How do you sell this movie? What are the handles on this thing that we can sell it to the media somehow or get media attention?’ Well, having a name actor gets you on talk shows and all that sort of thing. So there was some value to that idea, and we explored it.”

“Ultimately we kept coming back to Sam,” he said. “Sam was the guy who just — he was the guy. Even with the accent and everything. You hear Sam talk and he sounds like Crocodile Dundee — but you hear him in the character and he’s utterly and completely the guy.”

After seeing Worthington in the role it’s pretty hard to imagine anyone else as Jake Sully, however it’s always interesting to hear what could have been if the usual studio politics played out. I’m sure Avatar would have made over $1 billion with or without an A-List actor as the lead. People rarely see films just because a certain actor or actress appears in the film anyway nowadays, it’s mainly about the film itself.

Read similar posts to Matt Damon or Jake Gyllenhaal could have been Jake Sully at Filmonic

If on May 26th 2006 you walked out after seeing X-Men: The Last Stand and thought “well that was disappointing, I wonder what the film would have been like if Bryan Singer directed” then you’re in luck! As 3 years on, your question has finally been answered. Sort of.

Michael Dougherty, writer of X2 and director of Trick r’ Treat, recently appeared on the /Filmcast and spoke about a few ideas he and Bryan Singer had been thinking of before Singer left to direct Superman Returns.

Transcript from Geek Files:

“The idea was that you open up with Alkali Lake but it’s completely barren and dried up and there are these odd reports of strange phenomena going on around the world accompanied by bright lights in the sky.

“The idea would be that both the X-Men and the Brotherhood realise that essentially a very god-like force had entered their reality and that it was causing disruptions around the world, you know mutant prisons being decimated, I had pitched an idea about a fleet of cargo ships getting torn apart in the Atlantic and you found out that they were shuttling mutants as slave labour.

“You found out was that Phoenix was going round the world taking things into her own hands and that she had basically returned as a god, which they did in X3. She had viewed herself as above the conflict, that she was here to end things on her terms, she was sick of the fighting and she was going to take things into her own hands and she did not give a s**t what the X-Men or the Brotherhood had to say about it.

“And ultimately the way it was going to end, at least the version I was pushing for, would be that Phoenix was kind of like the Starchild at the end of 2001, she didn’t just get stabbed and die again, but she kind of chose to leave.

“The one idea that I loved, that I really wanted to do, was that Cyclops would build the Danger Room. He felt guilty that because the X-Men were too weak, they weren’t strong enough or fast enough, that was the reason Jean died. If they were a little bit better at fighting, then she might still be alive. It was all about this guilt he had about her death and he built the Danger Room to train them to be better. In the end it really was about him not being able to let go of her and that causes the chaos and disruption in the movie and in the end it’s about him letting her go.

“Ultimately she kind of becomes that cosmic force that Phoenix is known to be, she leaves Earth and becomes a god or at least a higher level of intelligence and she goes into the cosmos possibly to kick-start life somewhere else. The final scene for me would have been her telling Cyclops or her telling the X-Men ‘I’ll be watching.’”

Part of me wishes I never read that. That’s what X-Men 3 should have been. It should have focused on Jean/Phoenix and Cyclops and not have her stand around like a lemon for 20 minutes during a battle. Dougherty also mentioned that it would have set things up for more sequels, and there was talk way back about possibly filming X3 and X4 back-to-back.

I’d like to take this time to blame a few people. Firstly, I blame 20th Century Fox for not signing Bryan Singer up straight after X2. Secondly, I blame Warner Bros. for offering Singer Superman Returns. You don’t steal directors who are mid-way through a franchise. It’s not cool! Thirdly, I blame Singer himself for abandoning the franchise. Singer apparently wanted to make X3 after Superman, but Fox didn’t want to wait and I can understand why. One man can’t and shouldn’t hold up a franchise.

I’d also like to blame 20th Century Fox again for getting too involved with the creative process, hiring writers who can only write your typical popcorn fluff, and for hiring Brett Ratner as director. The guy directs Mariah Carey music videos for Christ sake!

Read similar posts to X-Men 3: What could have been at Filmonic

Here is another story for your ‘what if’ booklet. Way back before Guillermo del Toro got involved with Middle Earth, and even before he got involved with Hellboy 2, Marvel and Guillermo del Toro were is discussions about him possibly directing Thor. From Splash Page:

They approached me for ‘Thor,’” Del Toro told MTV News when asked whether Marvel had tried to tag him for any of their upcoming movies. “And for a long time we talked about that, because the mythology and the images were very attractive to me.”

“This was before ‘Hellboy II,’” he said.

While director Kenneth Branagh eventually landed behind the camera for “Thor,” Del Toro had quite a bit to say about why he was so attracted to the character.

“I’m a fan of [Jack] Kirby and the power he has, and I’m a fan of the original mythology,” explained Del Toro. “So I thought we could go back to the original mythology a lot. I love Loki, I think he’s a great figure.”

It’s always interesting to hear what could have been, however from what we have heard so far it looks like Kenneth Branagh will do Thor justice. I also like the current set up, whereby Marvel are going to interlock Thor with Iron Man and Captain America. If del Toro did end up directing Thor back in 2006/2007 the current Avengers set-up may not be happening.

Read similar posts to Guillermo del Toro nearly directed Thor at Filmonic

With the recent release of The Dark Knight it is hard to think of anyone other than Christopher Nolan who could tackle Batman (even though they have in the past). However, there are a lot of what if’s in the superhero movie world. What if James Cameron directed Spider-Man? What if Warner Bros went with Tim Burton’s Superman?

The latest one to add to the ever growing list is: What if Joss Whedon directed Batman?

Whedon regaled MTV News with the details of his proposed plan to reboot the “Batman” film franchise before Director Christopher Nolan got the gig.

“Well, I actually did pitch a ‘Batman’ film when [Warner Bros. began developing "Batman Begins"], and it wasn’t what they did but the vibe was very similar,” said Whedon. “Mine was a bit less epic. It was more about the progression of him and it was more in Gotham City. He didn’t go to Tibet and meet cool people, but it was very similar in vibe [to Nolan's "Batman Begins"].”

After a little prodding, Whedon opened up a bit about his “Batman” idea, even going into detail about what villain he planned on using…or not using.

“In my version, there was actually a new [villain], it wasn’t one of the classics — which is probably why they didn’t use it,” he laughed. “It was more of a ‘Hannibal Lector’ type — he was somebody already in Arkham Asylum that Bruce went and sort of studied with. It was a whole thing — I get very emotional about it, I still love the story. Maybe I’ll get to do it as a comic one day [ed. note: HINT HINT, DC Comics... ].”

I am glad Warner Bros went with Christopher Nolan as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are amazing movies, however it is always interesting to consider what could have been if someone else was sat in the directors chair.

Read similar posts to Joss Whedon On His Batman Movie That Never Was at Filmonic

First we heard about Sir Sean Connery turning down the role of Gandalf, then there was Nicolas Cage who was up for the role of Aragorn, and now we have Uma Thurman who could have been Eowyn. MTV spoke to Uma Thurman about why she turned down a role in the best trilogy ever made.

“Yeah, I was asked,” Thurman confirmed to MTV News of an offer from Peter Jackson to play Eowyn in the second and third films in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “I had a small child at the time and I couldn’t go away for a year. I was just too attached to home. It just caught me at the wrong moment.”

“I wish I had done it,” she confessed.

So do we. The role of Eowyn isn’t a substantially large one, of course, but the payoff? Getting to kill The Witch King of Angmar? Belting the line “No living man am I!” C’mon! That’s awesome.

For her part, Thurman couldn’t agree more, admitting that she was a “huge” fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels.

“Oh I truly wish I could’ve been able to take that plunge and maybe I should’ve,” she revealed. “But I just couldn’t at the time.”

What are your thoughts? Would she have made a good Eowyn, or are you happy with Miranda Otto’s portrayal?

Read similar posts to Uma Thurman Was Nearly Eowyn In The Lord Of The Rings! at Filmonic