Andy Serkis may not be the first person you’d think of as a replacement for David Tennant, but it seems he will be. The former Timelord has been forced to pull out of John Landis’ Burke and Hare, and Serkis has stepped in to replace him. And the good news for Andy is that we’ll actually be allowed to see his face, rather than hidden under motion control CG.
Serkis will star opposite Simon Pegg in the movie, which looks at the infamous duo who went beyond grave robbing in order to supply medical schools with cadavers, and started murdering people and selling the bodies. Perhaps the best thing about the new film though is that it marks John Landis’ first proper movie since 1998. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s still got what it takes.
The Serkis news was announced by Simon Pegg via Twitter, although it seems he’s now deleted that tweet, which suggests he let the news be known too early or that a final deal hasn’t been signed yet.
Tennant’s departure is probably down to scheduling problems, as a pilot has just been ordered for his potential new US TV show, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, which will probably keep him busy for the next few weeks.
John Cleese and Bill Bailey are also signed up to star in Burke and Hare, which is set to start shooting next week.