Tony Blair is Mr. Fantastic!

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Here's a little bit of a surprise. Michael Sheen WON'T be returning as Tony Blair for Oliver Stone's biopic of George Bush titled W! The magnificent and rather eerily spot on portrayal he gave in The Queen and the British t.v. feature The Deal both of which were written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears won't be repeated for Stone. Instead he has cast Fantastic Four actor Ioan Gruffudd. Not bad actually - I can see him as Blair. He has those eyes and that strong but at times vulnerable demeanour. If you weren't going for Sheen, then he seems like a good choice.

Playing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be Thandie Newton who in the last few years has been the victim of the "vacant wife role". Will she play an under-written supporting role here?

Stone's film is expected to begin filming very soon (he is desperate for it to be released by November) and we should soon here which actors have been cast as Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. Cast previously were... Josh Brolin as George Bush Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush James Cromwell as George Bush Sr. Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush source - the hollywood reporter