MovieChat Forums > Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) Discussion > Will Smith as Dr. Forbin?

Will Smith as Dr. Forbin?

posted 14 years ago by tfc
43 replies | jump to latest

On wikipedia it was said Will Smith will be Dr. Forbin in the remake of Colossus. Why do they need to cast a person who has been in several big SciFi films as the lead? "I have a bad feeling about this" (ala Star Wars). This may be the harbinger of a formula script and something disappointing like kanue Reeves in "the Day the Earth Stood Still" remake after he played in all the "matrix" series of movies. Pick someone who fits the part and not a box office draw. How about Denzel Washington? He looks more CompSci PHD.

[–] turtletommy 14 years ago

I guess Tom Cruise was busy......zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[–] dazfiddy 14 years ago

I hope that this Will Smith casting rumour is not true.The role needs a good
actor ,not a movie star.I'm thinking Liev Schreiber.He's a damn good actor.

[–] Slopmaster4001 14 years ago

I think Will Smith could play Dr. Forbin.

[–] dazfiddy 14 years ago

I love Will Smith when he does comedy/comic book sci-fi like Men in Black and Hancock.I was not convinced by him in I am Legend.It would be ludicrous to cast him as Dr Forbin. What you need a really good actor like Edward Norton or Liev Schrieber, or even a female actress like Cate Blanchett. I really love this film, and would hate to see a piss poor remake ruined by crappy casting.

[–] bastasch8647 14 years ago

Remake is probably a bad idea BUT IF it happens, I would prefer a little-known "Forbin" - this worked so very well for the Exorcist casting, wherein only Lee J. Cobb was widely known to general movie audiences. It worked well for the Crazies in "7" (a little-known Kevin Spacey) and in Saw (the familiar but not yet stellar Tobin Bell), and for many other new films that featured novel actors in strong parts. Smith is just too "Big" for this remake, imho. Cruise is unsuited for the brainy scientific "type" - and I think it's a blessing that we won't be seeing him in At The Mountains Of Madness, even though it's a shame that film has been abandoned...

[–] ablebravo 11 years ago

How about Tom Hanks? He could carry off Forbin pretty good, I think. He's not so baby-faced anymore. Please God, anyone but Will Smith! Not as Forbin. Well, almost anyone. I think I'd rather see Justin Timberlake as Forbin before I'd accept Will or Tom Cruise...

"Any technology sufficiently advanced would be indistinguishable from Magic."

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] shurbanm 9 years ago

i second that. i think will smith would be just about the worst choice for this role.

[–] greg-233 9 years ago

I'm actually reading the novel of Colossus at the moment. The book describes Forbin as being in his 50s, but looking younger.

I haven't seen the original film, but I imagine Forbin looking something like Harry Hamlin, (as he looked in the 1980s, when he was in L.A. Law). I think Hamlin could still fit the role in a remake, even though he's in his sixties now.

[–] okonacat7 14 years ago

Why not cast Eric Braeden in a remake?

[–] hccrle 12 years ago

Oh, I don't know. Maybe because he's 71 now?

[–] Tanu Tuva 11 years ago

Exactly as a brilliant scientist might be. Even more so if he's the leader of a group of scientists.

[–] kelzan 11 years ago

I'm looking forward to the remake coming out if only to help spur a decent DVD of the original being released, widescreen, plenty of extras.

[–] jety2k 14 years ago

Jon Hamm would be good for this part. He plays clean cut , calm, cool scientist type quite well. He should of been the lead in the crappy remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

[–] jameselliot-1 13 years ago

I'd like to see an unknown as Forbin. The original did not need movie stars nor does this remake. But then the suits make movies by marketing formulas more than ever.

[–] Royalcourtier 12 years ago

In the original film it was a deliberate decision to use a relatively unknown actor. The same should happen again. The role requires someone with charisma and the appearance of intelligence. Will Smith has one but not the other. The actor has to look clever, but not look like a geek. Someone who looks like Werner von Braun - or Eric Braeden.

[–] tfc 13 years ago

Denzel washington would be a better as Dr. Forbin because he looks like a person who has worked on a long Government project.

[–] nbreyfogle-1 13 years ago

I'm looking forward to this remake, but only if the filmmakers explore more of the story as written by the author D.F. Jones, who wrote the novel "Colossus" upon which the original film was based, and also wrote the sequels "The Fall of Colossus" and "Colossus and the Crab," both novels of which explore very interesting themes which the first novel and film only suggest. I read all three novels decades ago, and I've always wished the rest of the story had been put to film.

Also, I agree that Will Smith would be a disappointment (to me, personally) in the lead human role, but the film could still work, regardless.

[–] capttheo1 13 years ago

Yes, but how do you REALLY feel?

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Deluge69-663-991830 13 years ago

It will be another I ROBOT.

No comment.

[–] soupphysics 13 years ago

I don't think Will fits with the atmosphere of the movie, but then again, what is the point of remaking the movie, if it's going to be the exact same. Then you might as well watch the original.

[–] DD-931 13 years ago

You might as well indeed, since the odds are huge that the remake will fail in comparison.

Will Smith as Forbin will certainly help insure that failure. Denzel Washington, on the other hand...can't say that wouldn't be interesting.

Of course, I don't understand why a white actor couldn't play Dr. Forbin in a remake. But I also don't understand the need for a remake anyway.

[–] nbreyfogle-1 12 years ago

The point of any remake, for me, would be to explore the rest of the story as written in the two sequels to the original novel.

[–] Mewfer 9 years ago

I agree.

Remake - BAD IDEA.
Will Smith as Forbin - horrid, terrible, bad, no good idea.

Denzel - good actor. Interesting option.

Maybe George Clooney - gravitas.
Edward Norton - young, but solemn.

If the movie would review the issues brought up in the sequels - maybe.
But..special defects will get in the way, I fear.
Quality would be sacrificed.
As it often is.

Perhaps a better question is who should direct it - this...remake/sequel.