Mos Def to Play Ford Prefect

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Bukka bukka bukka...

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hip-hop artist/actor Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel and Martin Freeman ("The Office") are thumbing a ride with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a big-screen adaptation of the cult hit novel by Douglas Adams.

Mos Def will play Ford Prefect, an alien disguising himself as an out-of-work actor who sets out on an intergalactic journey with his best friend, mild-mannered earthling Arthur Dent (Freeman). The duo hitch a ride through space with the two-headed president of the galaxy, the beautiful and brilliant scientist Trillion (Deschanel) and a depressed robot while on a quest to discover the meaning of life.

The Disney/Spyglass project begins shooting in April in London under director Garth Jennings. Adams, who died in 2001, adapted his novel for the screen. After his death, Karey Kirkpatrick came aboard for a rewrite. The cult hit "Hitchhiker's Guide" began as a radio series and launched a book series, television series and video game.

After starting his career as a hip-hop artist, Mos Def is on a roll in Hollywood. He appears in the Kevin Bacon drama "The Woodsman," which was a Sundance Film Festival hit and was acquired last week by Newmarket Films. Mos Def also has appeared in "The Italian Job," "Brown Sugar" and "Monster's Ball" and recently wrapped HBO Films' upcoming "Something the Lord Made," with Alan Rickman. He is set to release a new album on Geffen Records this year.

Deschanel also made the rounds at Sundance with Lions Gate Films' "Eulogy," and hosted the closing-night awards ceremony. Her credits include "Elf," "The Good Girl," "All the Real Girls," "Manic" and "Almost Famous."

Freeman's credits include "Love Actually," "The Debt," "Hardware" and "Ali G Indahouse."

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I might die from happiness, but only if they can get Ricky Gervais to play Zaphod Beeblebrox!

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

whoa!

(who's martin freeman? I read that as "morgan freeman" and got really excited)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:55 (twenty-two years ago)

*seriously speechless [in a good way]*

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Martin Freeman is Tim from The Office

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Best left-field casting ever.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I was about to say, this JUST MIGHT work...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

As I said on the other thread about this, Martin Freeman is excellently cast as he does a look of perplexedness better than anyone I can think of. Bill Nighy is meant to be pencilled in to play Slartibartfast.

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, just imagine the number of "Brother from Another Planet" jokes in the hacky reviews.

― Kingfish Funyun (Kingfish), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, who's Bill Nighy? Certainly not The Science Guy, right?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

The old singer dude from Love Actually.

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

re director: Garth who?

― zebedee (zebedee), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Bill Nighy I know best for playing Sam in the BBC radio LOTR opposite Ian Holm as Frodo. Did a good job! Sounds like he could do Slartibartfast easy (but Richard Jordan -- I think I have the name right -- did splendiferously as the original).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Looking at imdb.com, he seems to have done nothing at all except being a title designer for Da Ali G Show.

(xpost)

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Garth Jennings apparently directed a Fatboy Slim/Macy Gray video.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm actually more shocked by the fact that imdb says he's going to play Jones in the film adaptation of "A Confederacy of Dunces."

http://imdb.com/title/tt0340054/

(will ferrell wtf?)

― J (Jay), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Seems like pretty inspired casting to me.

Depending on the budget, Disney could be taking a pretty big chance here considering the actors are mostly unknowns, at least in N.A.

― Simon H., Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy crap. Mos Def and Will Ferrell together in a somewhat-Soderberg penned version of Confederacy of Dunces? What in tarnation?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, they might be thinking in the wake of LOTR that if something has enough of a fanbase to build on that getting a full all-star cast isn't needed to sell it. Of course, whether or not the team working on this is as good as Peter Jackson and crew is another matter.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, i was wondering how mos was going to do both this and confederacy of dunces. looks like that might be on even-further-hold though if this is actually filming in april.. nick, while you're popping pills, don't miss that dunces is being directed by david gordon green.

― andrew s (andrew s), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy crap. Mos Def and Will Ferrell together in a somewhat-Soderberg penned version of Confederacy of Dunces? What in tarnation?

Nothing good will come out of this at all. What a fucking nightmare of a movie.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Re:G4rth J3nnings. I have actually had the pleasure of working with G4rth (on the BT Br04db4nd ads with the dragon and Tekken characters and whatnot). He also did the video for REM's "Imitation Of Life" and the Fatboy Slim video that shows the entire process of evolution in 3 minutes. I did some rough cuts for him and he was a really nice guy, kind of like a happy Jason Pierce type. He is kind of the British Senor Spielbergo to Spike Jonze. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

david gordon green is directing?!?!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

No! Read carefully!!! ;)

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:49 (twenty-two years ago)

he's projecting?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

genuflecting?!

― Kingfish Funyun (Kingfish), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

david gordon green is directing?!?!

He is. Based on his two films so far, the only reason he "makes sense" is because he's a Southerner. But I've also read interviews with him where he talks about wanting to do crazy genre films, like comedies and westerns, etc.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 29 January 2004 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

DGG: "Some days I say 'screw the politics let's just me and my buddies grab a camera and go out and film stuff, and we can do documentaries.' And then other days I'm just like 'but what about this great idea to relocate a West Virginia landscape on a British sound stage and make this gothic southern epic that I've been wanting to do, or this Tarkovsky-esque science fiction that will be three hours long?'"

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 29 January 2004 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

*slo-mo rimshot*
*followed by odd non-sequitur*

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 29 January 2004 22:13 (twenty-two years ago)

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