Who’s the more capable leading man — James McAvoy or Tom Cruise?
In the upcoming At the Mountains of Madness — the James Cameron-produced 3D adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella of the same title which tells the story of an Antarctic expedition that discovers unidentifiable life forms in a mountain range taller than the Himalayas — director Guillermo del Toro and Universal Studios can’t agree.
Basically, Universal wants McAvoy and del Toro wants Cruise (rumors are that they developed a strong relationship after talking about doing a reboot of Van Helsing). Production is set to start in May 2011 and both actors will be available at that point — McAvoy will have long finished shooting X-Men: First Class and Cruise will already be looking at a rough cut of Mission: Impossible IV by then. The question now is: which leading man is more bankable these days?
As much as we hate to disagree with the del Toro — the mind that brought us Pan’s Labyrinth — the studio is right. McAvoy is a better fit. If Cruise was the lead, I regretfully feel that audiences won’t be able to shake the fact that the guy leading an expedition into dark mystical territory is Maverick, Ethan Hunt, or that white dude who dressed as a samurai. He’s too much the hero that we count on to save the day and that will work against the build up of suspense throughout the film. Sorry Tom, on to the next one!
Source: Collider
