Dream Cast Thursday! Anastasia

For this week's Dream Cast Thursday, I will be recasting Anastasia. The first film that I looked at was Anatole Litvak's Anastasia (1956). The second film that I looked at was the animated film, Anastasia (1997). The animated film has always been one of my favorites. I saw the 1956 film for the first time this summer. I would like to do a film that blends the two together. It would be live action, have some of the magic and romance of the animated film, and have some of the darker aspects of the live-action film.

The first character that I cast is Anastasia. In the 1956 version, Anastasia/Anna Koreff was played by Ingrid Bergman. In the 1997 version Anastasia's voice was dubbed by Meg Ryan. For my remake, I cast a French actress named Melanie Laurent.

I felt that there were two different characters in the films that were very similar. In the 1956 version Yul Brynner plays General Sergei Pavlovich Bounine. In the 1997 version, the voice of Dimitri was dubbed by John Cusack. For my remake, I cast a German actor named Thomas Kretschmann.

The third character that I cast was the Dowager Empress Marie. In the 1956 version, she is played by Helen Hayes. In the 1997 version, her voice was dubbed by Angela Lansbury. For my remake, I cast an English actress named Julie Christie. 

The last character that I cast was Grigori Rasputin. He did not make an appearance in the 1956 version. I looked at the 1996 film, Rasputin. In this film, he was played by Alan Rickman. In the 1997 version, his voice was dubbed by Christopher Lloyd. For my remake I cast a Croatian actor named Rade Serbedzija.

So what do you all think? What films have you seen that have depicted the life of Anastasia? Who would be in your remake?

Dream Cast Thursday! Casablanca

For this week's Dream Cast Thursday, I will be recasting Casablanca(1942). This movie was pretty hard to cast (although not nearly as hard as Gone With the Wind), because it was cast so well to begin with. There are so many reasons that this film is a classic (casting being one of them).

The first and most important character that I recast was Rick. He was originally played by Humphrey Bogart. I recast Robert Downey Jr.

Ilsa was originally played by Ingrid Bergman. I went back and forth between several actresses (mostly Diane Kruger). I finally settled on Saffron Burrows.

Captain Renault is another important character. He was originally played by Claude Rains. I recast Daniel Auteuil.

Victor was originally played by Paul Henreid. I recast Thomas Kretschmann.

Sam was originally played by Dooley Wilson. I recast Taye Diggs.

So what do you all think? Who would you recast?