Cast the Legend of Drizzt Movie (should it ever be made)

Lately I've really gotten into R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'urden books. Drizzt, for those of you who don't know, is a renegade dark elf set in the fantasy world known as the Forgotten Realms. I doubt it will ever happen, but I personally would love to see a movie based on Drizzt hit theaters. I personally think it would be great if they started from the beginning, doing a film version of the Dark Elf Trilogy, which is the story of Drizzt's beginnings, and possibly Salvatore's best books, but I suppose they could also do the Icewind Dale series as well, as that series introduces a lot of other important characters like Wulfgar and and Artemis Entreri. But anyway, if such films were ever made, who would you cast? Here are some ideas I had:

Drizzt Do'Urden: Here's a character who should be dark but noble; a little crazy but certainly resourceful. An actor portraying this part should be someone who is in excellent shape but also slim and not overly tall. I had to jump on the Jude Law bandwagon (I personally never wanted him to play Superman, Batman, James Bond, the Joker, or any other character people were petitioning to have him play) butI think he'd be the perfect Drizzt. His features and range would match up perfectly. But Law is a fairly big star right now, so it might be better to go with a less known actor, so in that case I'd go for Sean Patrick Flannery. Why? Well, the guy has some interesting range (check out his character in Boondock Saints and contrast it with the guy he played in Suicide Kings) and he certainly doesn't mind doing roles that require a lot of weird makeup (Powder). A while ago there were people saying that he'd make a great Silver Surfer. Silver Surfer, in many ways, is a similar character to Drizzt, and that's what made me think of Sean for this part.

Zaknafien Do'urden: For the part of Drizzt's father and mentor, you'd need someone who can portray the whole "old and weathered warrior" part without actually looking old and weathered. My first choice would have been Liam Neeson, but since he's playing a role similar to Zaknafien in the new Batman film, I'll go with Timothy Dalton for Zaknafien. Although he's definitely my LEAST favorite James Bond, Dalton has done better when he's played darker, more embittered characters.

Jarlaxle: I hate to cast an actor in the role of a bald character just based on the fact that the actor is bald, but damn, Michael Rosenbaum would make an awesome Jarlaxle. This is a part that would require an actor to be manipulative and calculating while at the same time charming and boisterous (if you've ever seen Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Johnny Depp's character is pretty much Jarlaxle... the only reason I'm not naming him for this role is because he's such a huge star). Rosenbaum has proven himself to play this type of role (to a lesser extent) on Smallville and I think he'd make a great Jarlaxle.

I'll add more when I have more time... please feel free to give me your imput as well.

 

The Drizzt books are great. I read the Icewind Dale series first, and that was pretty cool, and now I'm currently on the last book of the Dark Elf Trilogy, which is flat out amazing. Drizzt might be the most fully developed character in fantasy literature. Salvatore really lets you delve into his psychosis... the books are very philosophical, and a lot of the situations in them are easy to relate to despite being set in a fantasy world.

Here are some more ideas I had for the cast:

Matron Malice: Jessica Lange. Okay, she's kind of a big name, but she hasn't been in a huge hit in years so she might come pretty cheap, and after seeing her chilling portrayal of Tamora in Titus, I'd have to say she'd be perfect as Drizzt's evil mother.

Artemis Entreri: This is a tough one. For Artemis, you need someone who is powerfully built and intimidating but also slim and short. Most of all though, you need an actor who can just play a genuine bastard who cares for no one but himself. Some names I would throw out here (but I can't come to a conclusion on who would be best) are Billy Crudup, Stuart Townsend, and Colin Farrell (the last one may be too big of a star, but he really would look and act the part well, I'm sure).

 

I was wondering how that game was. Does Drizzt have a big part in it? Also, where in the Realms is it supposed to take place?

 

Hugh Jackman would rock as Artemis. Good suggestions!

 

In my opinion, the Dark Elf Trilogy is the best of the series, in particular the first two books, Homeland and Exile. They really help you understand Drizzt a lot better and all of the Tolkien-derivative elements are pretty much gone at that point; I agree with you that as Salvatore wrote more, his writing became a lot sharper and more original. I think you can even see that in the Icewind Dale series... my favorite of those three books was "The Halfling's Gem," simply because it went in a lot of different directions and had a lot of out of the ordinary scenerios for a fantasy novel.
I've also read the "Legacy of the Drow" series, which picks up after Icewind Dale and is also very good, and right now I'm about halfway through the "Paths of Darkness" series, which is also kickass thus far.

 

Rokken.

 

Good ideas, Hogan. Glad to see that there are some other hardcore Drizzt fans. Have any of you checked out the new Drizzt comic books that are out? They're based on "Homeland" from the Dark Elf series. I just found out about them at my comic shop today, so I was only able to get issue # 2 (1 was sold out). I didn't get to read it yet (just flipped through it quick) but the art looks pretty good. I'm really glad they started the series out in chronological order, with my favorite book first!

 

#2 came out yesterday. Apparently there are 2 covers for each issue... a pianted one for $8.95 and a drawn one for $4.95.

 

Yeah, I'm sure the comics won't be able to pull of the narrative genius of the books, but its still pretty cool to see what the artists interpretations of some of the creatures and characters look like. I'm also glad to see that they did it because putting the books into comic format will up Drizzt's popularity considerably among comic fans and who knows? Maybe we'll see a live action or animated movie someday.

 

Agreed. A game where you play as Drizzt the entire time would kick total ass. Drizzt seems to be gaining some more notcie lately with the comic books that have come out and there is a even a medieval weapon company that recently put out Twinkle and Icingdeath (which both look AWESOME by the way), so maybe a Drizzt game is in the works. It would also be cool if they came out with a Marvel vs. Capcom type tournament game with fantasy characters, like Forgotten Realms vs. The Lord of the Rings or something. I know it would never happen, but just imagine Drizzt vs. Aragorn, or Sauron vs. Errtu.