I've previously said that I really hope Shad gets the role of Ukafa, since it's his lifelong dream to be in a Conan movie. Well, the big dude's a step closer, according to his myspace blog.
“Good News, I’m past the first part of casting for the new Conan the Barbarian movie as one of the main villains “UKAFA”. Now it’s down to me and several others to see which one of us will go head to head with Jason Momoa. This role is as important to me as playing The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns was for Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. I never ask my fans for much, but if you think I would be the best opponent to fight Jason Momoa in the new Conan the Barbarian film then I need you guys to hit the Conan chat rooms, forums, blogs, tweets, and message boards and let them know Shad Gaspard is the man when it comes to kicking ass and taking names on the big screen…..”
I'll vouch for you, big man!
Shad Gaspard is the MAN when it comes to KICKING ASS and TAKING NAMES on the big screen! He's a Brooklyn Boy done good, having payed his dues to society after a rough early life of crime, and I'm sure his momma, poppa and five brothers and sisters will be thrilled to see their boy up on the big screen! Let's do this, guys! Let's get Shad into Conan!
...
And you know, I'm totally serious. Well, not serious in manner, but I'm being sincere in wanting Shad to get the role he really wants. There's no hope for this as a Robert E. Howard movie, and negligible hope for a good fantasy movie. All we can hope is that it's good for something, and not just a waste of time for all involved. Shad as Ukafa wouldn't be doing Howard any more damage than the film already is, and the man's obviously got his heart set on it.
Momo seems to want to be in it, but it's clear that it's one of many jobs to him. I'm not accusing him of "not being dedicated enough" or anything, it's just an interesting contrast to Shad. Momo hadn't made any interviews up until recently despite being in the running for months, while Shad is all over MySpace. His enthusiasm is boundless.
So why the hell not? He isn't going to ruin the movie, and someone else as Ukafa isn't going to save it. I say, let the man fulfill his dream.
Hell's Yeah Ufaka is my favorite Robert E. Howard character next to Conan himself.
ReplyDeleteOh wait
whats that
there is no Ufaka
Ukafa, my mistake
yeah might as well be him-he looks the part of my favorite character this side of Bombata, Ukafa.
Where is the guy that has the love for Howard that Jackson did for LOTR? Is there no one that truely deserves to helm a fil about Conan. Ufaka...sure why not, like you said, he couldn't hurt it. An original adventure for Conan would be ok... not the best, but ok, just something that actually emulates Howard. While Oliver Stone wrote a good script and the film had Hyborian trappings, it was not truely Conan or Howard's work.
ReplyDeletehi Al... I'm Francisco from Spain... why dont you answer my emails and comments...? do you have something against spanish people...?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love Ukafa! Just as I love Zula... wait... no, Juma! .... Wait...
ReplyDeleteR.R., I'm positive there's a guy out there dedicated to REH. Jackson's LotR is as much due to his wife and his pal Philippa: PJ had a whole bunch of crazy ideas that got shot down by those two. They were the purists of the team: kinda scary to think about.
Fransisco, I'm afraid I'm not getting your emails, and I didn't catch your previous comments. I always forget to check earlier posts. My email address is at The Cimmerian website in the "about the bloggers" page: try it again. I don't like putting my email in text because of spam problems, but make sure it's .co.uk and not .com: a lot of people make that mistake.
I'm somewhat tired of people holding up Peter Jackson as an exemplar director for being a fan and faithful to the source material. Jackson read the books exactly once (and that only after watching Bakshi's cartoon) before getting it into his head to make a fantasy film some time later. The source material was always secondary to him. Had he had his way, we would have had Sauron fighting Aragorn at the Black Gate, and even more silly nonsense than what we already got.
ReplyDeleteI support Shad, he's the first person who has publicly approached this project with genuine enthusiasm.
-Taran