Tennant out of Burke and Hare

[Captaindemotion]

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/16140/serkis-replaces-tennant-on-burke-

It appears the Scottish Doctor and the English Scotty won't be starring together in John Landis' graverobber story Burke and Hare after all.

Apparently remaining co-star [and one-time Dr Who guest star] Simon Pegg has confirmed that former DW David Tennant has left the cast to be replaced by Gollum/ King Kong/ Ian Dury himself, Andy Serkis. Seems that scheduling of this movie couldn't be reconciled with DT's new tv show My Name is Rex.

Shame, but Serkis and Pegg is still a pretty appealing gruesome twosome. If that makes sense.

Sez Dark Horizons:

Simon Pegg has confirmed on his Twitter that outgoing "Doctor Who" star David Tennant has been replaced by "Lord of the Rings" actor Andy Serkis on the upcoming horror comedy "Burke & Hare".
Pegg and Tennant were set to play the titular characters in the John Landis-directed story of 19th-century grave robbers who find a lucrative business providing dead bodies for an Edinburgh medical school.
Reasons for Tennant's departure are unknown though it's likely to be due to scheduling changes. Tennant stars in the NBC pilot "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer" which was originally to premiere in the Fall. That however is likely to be moved up to late Spring to fill in the numerous holes in the troubled network's post-Leno period.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Pity about the lost of David Tennant, but Andy Serkis is wonderful in his own way. I'm still looking forward to this movie.

 

[Piper]

It'll be interesting to watch in the mid-term which would have been more beneficial to his career. Here's hoping Rex isn't a dud...

 

[wamdue]

yes NBC seems like a bit of a risk at the moment, sure if it goes well and the show becomes a hit he could earn alot of money from it, and a 22 episode a year show is a steady job for as many years as it runs, but it isnt a CBS show, its an NBC show.

 

[23skidoo]

yes NBC seems like a bit of a risk at the moment, sure if it goes well and the show becomes a hit he could earn alot of money from it, and a 22 episode a year show is a steady job for as many years as it runs, but it isnt a CBS show, its an NBC show.

Everyone seems to think NBC is going to shut down or something. Won't happen. It's not UPN or The WB (and even they didn't shut down, just merged).

In fact having a show on NBC right now is probably a better bet than the other networks because unless it stinks up the room they're more likely to stick with it. I have more confidence in a show like Rex sticking around on NBC than I would if it were on Fox or even CBS.

There's also some buzz that he pulled out to do The Hobbit. Thing is a lot of these rumors predate the TV series. Much as we'd like to see David Tennant do the Hobbit - or Burke and Hare - the TV series is going to take up his time this year, especially if it gets a spring or summer launch instead of fall.

And we can't begrudge Tennant wanting to do a TV series. We need only look at Hugh Laurie to see how a good British actor can establish himself in the US with a good series. I think Rex stands a chance of doing quite well.

And if it doesn't, that won't kill Tennant's career. He'll go and do something else.

Alex

 

[wamdue]

you have a fair point, also on the larger issue of TV channels & newspapers closing due to the recession, so far not many have, and none of a high profile nature.

Some of TrekBBS declared theCW DOA, but it is still around.

 

[Saul]

Some media outlets say this happened because he is going for a role in "The Hobbit".

 

[The Nth Doctor]

So with that in mind, who would be the best character for David Tennant to play?

I can't seem has any of the dwarves (they're too burly and he's a stick) and I can't imagine him as Bilbo (but then Sylvester McCoy was in the running for the trilogy). My bet is on Bard.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It occurred to me the other day that it has been a shocking 12 YEARS since Landis' last movie, the ill-received Blues Brothers 2000. This is a sad waste of the talents of the man who gave us Animal House, Trading Places, American Werewolf in London etc. Okay, so the 90s saw the likes of Beverly Hills Cop 3 and the aforesaid Blues Brothers sequel on his CV, but still, his good output outweighs the bad and it's amazing to think that he went so long without adding to either. I really hope Burke and Hare is a return to form.