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Johnny Depp, Rango, 2010. Gleeson and Ben Mendelsohn were shortlisted for the titular lizard saving the wild West town called Dirt. But hey, Gore Verbibnski was directting so Rango hadda be his Disney pirate. Indeed, it’s the only one of his movies that Johnny has ever watched. Critic Roger Ebert knew why: “Wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D… deserving comparison with Blazing Saddles, from which it borrows a lot of farts.”
- Toby Kebbell, The Fantastic Four, 2014. Marvel wanted the Four back and offered Fox an extension on its Daredevil II plans. No way! So, in the mix for the third Victor Van Doom/Dr Doom were Gleeson, Jack Huston, Eddie Redmayne, Sam Riley. And Danish Mads Mikkelsen just stalked out of his audition! Film flopped. (Only ever made to save the rights). Hollywood Reporter critic Todd McCarthy called it “a 100-minute trailer for a movie that never happens.” Marvel icon Stan Lee saw it coming and refused his seal-of-approval cameo. Kebbell called it a learning experience.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 2