14 Upcoming Movies That Will Probably Waste Awesome Actors

4. Benedict Cumberbatch - The Grinch

The Role: The Grinch, a Christmas-hating creature who, with his pet dog Max, plans to ruin Christmas for the plucky residents of Whoville.

It's rather ironic that the 2000 live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! made dubious use of Jim Carrey's madcap talents, because this animated offering is likely to make even less impressive use of the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch.

Sure, there's only so much an actor can do when they're reeling off lines in an air-conditioned recording booth, but the trailers released to date sadly don't suggest Cumberbatch is being allowed to give anything more than a totally anonymous, workmanlike performance.

Where is the expressiveness we expect from the actor? While it's not quite fair to say Cumberbatch sounds like he's phoning things in, it just seems like most viewers will quickly forget he's voicing The Grinch at all, at which point his casting becomes nothing more than an exercise in (possibly failed) branding.