Mary Poppins Vs The Tooth Fairy Julie Andrews joins The Rock's new com Source: The Hollywood Reporter
It’s the battle of the century. The clash of the titans. The showdown to end all showdowns.
It’s The Rock vs Mary Poppins.
Yes, our very own Dame Julie Andrews has joined the cast of Dwayne ‘The John’ Rockson’s latest family comedy, The Tooth Fairy, in which the former wrestler plays Derek Thompson, a hockey pro who has a penchant for knocking out his opponent’s teeth – hence the eponymous nickname.
However, when he discourages a youngster, Derek is sentenced – for reasons we hope become clear in the movie – to one week’s hard labour as an actual Tooth Fairy, under the watchful eye of the acerbic supervisor Lily (Andrews).
Dame Julie has kept her on-screen appearances to a minimum in recent years, but we’re willing to bet that she can still cut The Rock - we're sorry, Dwayne Johnson - down to size with a withering look. It should make for a fun pairing.
As, indeed, should Johnson’s teaming with Stephen Merchant. Yes, that Stephen Merchant. He's dipped his massive and freakishly over-sized man-giant toes into movies before, notably with cameos in Hot Fuzz and Run, Fat Boy, Run.
But his role in The Tooth Fairy as Tracy, a hapless tooth fairy who is assigned to be Johnson’s case worker, despite not having earned his own wings, is his biggest role in a movie to date. We hope that he does well – Merchant is a very funny man, and his part in the success of The Office and Extras has often been overlooked in the rush to acclaim Gervais the king of the modern world. Hopefully with this movie, he can start to redress the balance – but he must keep that strong Bristol accent, or we’re going home in a huff.
One more cast member also signed on today. Ryan Sheckler is a pro skateboarder, who will play a hockey player who treats Johnson’s character like a has-been. We smell a comeuppance – possibly involving some missing teeth. Oh, what fun!
Michael Lembeck will direct the 20th Century Fox flick, which begins shooting this October in Vancouver.
surely this is going too be a Pushing Dasies, fantasy based alternate reality earth, which would make him being forced to be a tooth fairy make sense. ... Read More
Having enjoyed the artist formally known as The Rock's comic timing in Get Smart, this could be an interesting one.
And I hope Stephen Merchant will be able to break America - with Bristol accent and all. I still haven't forgiven them for overdubbing David "I wont those plaaans" Prowse ... Read More
