Jonah Hill auditioning for Sonny Crockett in the Miami Vice reboot?

[OCBman]

Nah, it's just him and his girlfriend wearing matching suits.

[fakespyder]

Guess I'm too old because I don't know who this person is.

[Ferrariman]

That title gave me chills!  Please don't do that again!  

[Dadrian]

11 hours ago, fakespyder said:

Guess I'm too old because I don't know who this person is.

Did you see Superbad?

[Jeff_Cooper]

Ok, that was funny, not. Scared me badly

-J

[Campion]

You laugh, but I believe one of the reasons Michael Mann did a Miami Vice movie was to save Miami Vice from ending up a parody flick (there was a rash of movies at the time making fun of 80s shows, such as Starsky & Hutch). I've wondered if he didn't do that movie to protect Miami Vice from ending up as a bad comedy (let's face  it, lots of gold to mine if you wanted to make fun of Vice). So yeah, Jonah Hill teamed with a black comedic actor doing a spoof of Crockett and Tubbs was an all-too-possible nightmare.

[OCBman]

1 hour ago, Campion said:

You laugh, but I believe one of the reasons Michael Mann did a Miami Vice movie was to save Miami Vice from ending up a parody flick (there was a rash of movies at the time making fun of 80s shows, such as Starsky & Hutch). I've wondered if he didn't do that movie to protect Miami Vice from ending up as a bad comedy (let's face  it, lots of gold to mine if you wanted to make fun of Vice). So yeah, Jonah Hill teamed with a black comedic actor doing a spoof of Crockett and Tubbs was an all-too-possible nightmare.

Yikes! 

"Hey Crockett, still partying with Tubbs these days?"  - Jonah Hill says to his bearded friend in Knocked Up.

[fakespyder]

14 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Did you see Superbad?

Title rings a bell but no, haven't seen it. Not in a mad rush too either.

the picture OCBman posted:I do recognise that smaller guy.  I never would've guessed it was the same dude as the first picture though.

 

And if he can be Sonny, I'm throwing my hat in the ring too.

[RedDragon86]

If anybody is going to play Sonny again it should be his son Jesse.

Edited December 8, 2021 by RedDragon86

[Party_car1]

Totally agree. Hey, Christopher Reaves stepped into the shoes of his grandpa, George Reaves and played Superman.  Why not?

[Ferrariman]

1 hour ago, Party_car1 said:

Totally agree. Hey, Christopher Reaves stepped into the shoes of his grandpa, George Reaves and played Superman.  Why not?

Actually they are not related. The names are different. Christopher Reeve and George Reeves. In fact Reeves isn’t even his real name. His real name is George Keefer Brewer.           However my vote is for Jesse!

[Kladdagh]

+1 for Jesse 

[Augusta]

Haha.  All of your picks and suggestions are funny. Good funny, not stupid funny.
 
But hey, despite how "right" Johnson and Thomas turned out for their roles, we should be ready to admit, they were both professionally unestablished (despite how long Don had been trying and trying to gain some successful place in the acting market).  Hollywood could easily call them "unknowns", as far as Hollywood measures profitable exposure to a public audience.  
And that "unknown" term MAY have been 50% of what made them each successful for roles in an "unknown" (never before tested) series concept.  
The other 50% comes from Don Johnson simply FITTING THAT CHARACTER PERFECTLY RIGHT, down to the damn charming southern voice coming out of an edgy lean glass-n-steel, completely NON-country person the criminals are doing business with.  That southern-ex footballer sound when the character speaks his lines, is so far enough away that it keeps Sonny Crockett from being a hayseed or mint-julip trickster, yet is ALWAYS audible enough to keep his character from being "yet another gun-drawing, explosion dodging good-guy badass".  
Same is true for Thomas, who JUST ISN'T your typical black actor or typical "ca-ri-bee-yan" joke-swinging cop partner, when he played that character.  In my opinion, it had to be hard to present to the audience a man who is completely experienced, has recently chosen to be vengeful, is now transplanted out of his element (Miami and not NY anymore), and has to continue being and feeling transplanted WITHOUT acting like he doesn't know what to do in each episode, YET not looking like he's mastered Miami's crime environment within the first 7 episodes.  I would imagine that kind of acting task to be impossible for anyone with less than James Edward Olmos' skill level---but Thomas aces the part, fills in all the required boxes through the entire 5 seasons, and THAT I have to suspect was as much a lucky fit as Don Johnson's. 

So unfortunately, even if you LOOK like a youthful version of Johnson or Thomas (...can Jesse even act?), or you have the same physique as they did in the show while wearing the clothes and filming the actions... you still likely won't FIT the characters even half as appropriately as those two did.  
If they're going to do a return to Miami Vice (...and I won't repeat again the long reasons why I'm against bringing back Vice), they might be better off creating "modified" Crockett and Tubbs----give them considerably different personality traits than the originals, and then simply find actors who will fit that MODIFIED character your created.  Don't try to restore the classic roles.
I think Mann did that correctly with his Vice movie.  The movie Crockett and Tubbs were NOT the personalities we vividly remember in the series.  Yes, they had some of the same razor stubble, and some of the same slick-n-cool when face-to-face with a perp.  But no southern charm hint in voice, no sunny laughs, no questions from Tubbs on the learning curve, no time for "wasted decisions, Sport".  I don't know if Mann was genius enough that he KNEW he should erase some of the Crockett and Tubbs personality traits, or if it just worked out that way during the Foxx's and Farrell's performances.... but I feel it turned out healthier for the movie by not trying to faithfully restore the classic characterizations.
I think Johnson's son, or any body-double of Thomas, or even guys who can effectively duplicate the first actor's voice inflections (the way Ewan McGregor smartly managed with Alec Guinness's Kenobi) would be wrong.  You'd be helping some of us fans to 'fantasize' that our Vice pals are back,... but would be helping the rust of us find reasons to compare you to Don and Philip, and poo-poo the show.

Pure original classic Crockett and classic Tubbs are gemstone characters that can't be popped back into service---Hollywood will only screw it up trying to find SOME miracle actors out there who can do it (and Hollywood moguls don't know capable acting from poor acting anyway---they don't have the patience to find an unknown who'll fit---they'll reach for some dude who already "attractive to audiences, so is a worthy profit investment".  And I really think you need to stick with "unknowns" again, if the new modified characters are to get a fair chance of success with an audience).

And Campion, I like your theory about Mann's strategy with making the Vice movie---I have a suspicion you are right on target.