10 Movie Castings You Did Not See Coming

It can be said without hyperbole that casting can make or break a film. Of course, there are plenty of other factors at play, and success rarely comes down to personnel alone, but it can have an unrivaled impact. You could argue that the MCU would never have enjoyed the same success without Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, for example.

There are some actors whose style and body of work lend themselves to certain characters or types of films, while on the other side of the coin, there are certain roles that are simply crying out for specific actors. Hell, actors often end up publicly lobbying for them themselves.

However, that doesn't mean that a casting announcement can't come completely out of the blue and take you by surprise. Obviously, as fans, we know far from everything, and it's good to see a curve ball come through to shake things up every now and then.

Some of these choices have enjoyed varying success, while others are yet to see the screen, and who knows what could happen there. For any doubters of what's to come on this list in the category of the latter, just remember that no one wanted Heath Ledger as the Joker, and everyone thought casting Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was a terrible idea.

There is nothing off the table when it comes to seeing movies remade and rebooted. If a project is popular or financially successful, chances are it will go through the whole process again - something that happens with varying levels of success.

It can't be too surprising then, that a reboot of The Naked Gun is being put into production, and with Seth MacFarlane as an executive producer no less. However, the original goofy, slapstick comedy relied so much on the immeasurable comedic chops of Leslie Nielsen, that choosing the lead for this project would be crucial.

So, who could bring to life the same silliness as Nielsen did as Frank Drebin? Though he may have worked with MacFarlane on multiple different projects and has certainly proven that he can thrive in comedic roles despite a typically more serious background, Liam Neeson wouldn't have been the first name that sprang to mind.

Yes, he is incredibly talented, but The Naked Gun became iconic for such a specific type of comedy, one that it's hard to picture Neeson in, and if the reboot does move away from such tone and style, it simply won't feel like a Naked Gun movie at all. Clearly, MacFarlane has faith in his casting choice, though, and should perhaps be given the benefit of the doubt for now.