Yesterday we sat down with Josh Hutcherson, one of the stars of Lisa Cholodenko’s excellent upcoming dramedy, “The Kids Are All Right,” starring Annette Benning, Julianna Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Mia Wasikowska (“Alice In Wonderland”).
The film is wonderful, one of our faves so far this year, but let’s not kid ourselves, top of everyone’s minds at the moment is whether Hutcherson will star in Marc Webb’s 3D re-imagining of “Spider-Man” which hopes to shoot by the end of the year in time for a July 3, 2012 release date.
Hutcherson confirmed that he’s part of the auditions (that include actors like Jamie Bell, Andrew Garfield, Anton Yelchin, and many more), and said win or lose the role, he’s happy just to be here. “You know it’s crazy, the whole thing is ridiculous to even think about. To be considered on the same list with those great actors that I admire is honestly just an honor. To even possibly be a part of that [film] is more than I could ever ask for.”
Asked bluntly if he had screen-tested, Hutcherson blushed and evaded the question.
“Umm… there’s not a whole lot I can say, I think they’re seeing a lot of people for it and they’re trying to figure out and narrow down exactly who they want.”
Our thoughts? He screen-tested, but as the 17-year-old actor suggests, they might not mean much as Sony is really going to put all the contestants through the paces to figure out who’s right for the role and picture they’re trying to make.
Apparently they’re being tight with the script too. “No, they won’t let anybody read that,” he told ComingSoon in a separately conducted interview. ” They have it in a safe inside a vault inside some secret Fort Knox location.”
He also spoke about the in-limbo’d MGM film, “Red Dawn” which he stars in alongside Chris Hemsworth and Adrianne Palicki. “It was epic. It was quite the opposite of [“The Kids Are All Right”]. It was very big, over-the-top, effects driven movie. A lot of action,” Hutcherson said. As for the differences between this remake and the original Cold-War-driven 1984 film directed by John Milius and starring Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell?
“I’ve seen the original a few times and well, they’re similar. The hearts still there, the idea that a group of teens are fighting back against an army is still there, but now the Chinese are invading instead of the Russians and they’ve modernized a lot of the story and made it believable for this day and age.”
Hutcherson had no idea about the MGM delays, but seems psyched to see a final version of the film. More from this interview next week. “The Kids Are All Right” opens in limited release on July 9. — interview conducted by Kimber Myers
Update: Rumors are going around that Hutcherson does have the “Spider-Man” gig, but he also told us he’s shooting, “Journey To The Center of the Earth 2” next and apparently that shoots in the fall so wouldn’t that conflict? This source however is apparently pretty dead-on at times. They also claim the Lizard will be the main villain of the film, which frankly isn’t a surprise to hear. Some are also saying Hutcherson could play Cyclops in “X-Men: First Class,” but we’d consider that just a rumor for now.
