Wait until you see who they have playing Sirius Black...
If there is one thing America loves, it’s remaking British entertainment with an All-American cast. Usually, the remake is significantly worse than the original (i.e. The I.T. Crowd) but occasionally, the USA actually manages to create a remake worth watching (i.e. The Office). And this deepfake Americanized version of the Harry Potter movies looks like it would fall firmly in the latter category, as the entire cast is incredible.
The deepfake trailer reimagines the multi-billion-dollar franchise with a cast of American actors instead of thespians from across the pond and, I gotta say, they pretty much nailed it. Morgan Freeman as Dumbledore? Absolutely yes. Meryl Streep as McGonnagall? Give her the Oscar now! Matthew McConaughey as Olivander? Alright, alright, alright with me.
The rest of the hypothetical cast is just as good, with Keanu Reeves playing Sirius Black, Bob Odenkirk playing Lupin, Michael Cera as Quirrell, and Samuel L. Jackson as Mad-Eye Moody (he already has experience playing a character with an unusual eye situation in a massive franchise). Even Seth Rogen and Melissa McCarthy get thrown in as Arthur and Molly Weasley, though, to be fair, Rogen is technically Canadian but I’ll let it slide…
Even some of the performances that you might think of as untouchable are given great replacements. Can anyone ever top Alan Rickman’s iconic take on Severus Snape? Probably not but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to see Adam Driver try. And while Helena Bonham Carter’s unhinged performance as Bellatrix Lestrange is legendary, it would be incredible to see what Julia Louis-Dreyfus would do with the role.
If I am going to nitpick, there are only two casting choices I’m not too crazy about: Nicolas Cage as Voldemort and Jason Momoa as Hagrid. While Cage could have crushed playing He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named in his prime, at this point, he hasn’t delivered a great performance in over a decade. And while Momoa is unquestionably great, I honestly don’t think his badass physicality is right for the part. My personal choices for the roles would be Jack Black for Hagrid and for Voldemort, give me Tom Hanks going completely against type as a remorseless attempted baby killer.
For now, this is just an online trailer but perhaps it could inspire Warner Bros. to greenlight this remake because suddenly, it’s the only thing in the world I want to watch.
