So, is Tom Hiddleston a movie star or not?
You're watching Beyond The Trailer's review of I Saw the Light...
Comic book movies sure do make a lot of money.
But interestingly, they aren't very consistent
when it comes to making movie stars. Sure,
they've done wonders for Scarlet Johansson
and - well, that's about it, isn't it? Chris
Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Henry Cavill - even
Robert Downey Jr! - all struggle when they're
not donning the ol' cape and tights. But at
least those other guys can still rely on their
superhero work. Like a cheap date, Tom Hiddleston
was wined and dined and then cast aside, the
hottest villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
until suddenly he wasn't. Remember when he
came out in costume at Comic Con? That's how
big a superstar the guy was. But perhaps Kevin
Feige realized his villain had become more
popular than his heroes, not to mention Feige
had to start building up Thanos instead at
some point, right? It must really stick in
Hiddleston's craw that he's been booted out
of the promised land and they still haven't
even gotten to Thanos. Villain problem?! Marvel
got rid of their one good villain! Well, anti-hero
really, but whatever. Now, with the Hulk casting
a pretty large shadow of the next Thor movie
already, Hiddleston is left to fend for his
own out in the unforgiving wilds of Hollywood.
War Horse? The Deep Blue Sea? Only Lovers
Left Alive? Nobody except his most dedicated
fans cared - only for even their loyalty to
be tested by Crimson Peak. High-Rise is coming,
but that just seems like more of the same.
But Hiddleston thankfully has a few cards
left to play. There's the most obvious, Kong
Skull Island where he'll try to pull a Chris
Pratt. Then there's his new BBC mini-series
The Night Manager which has SOME buzz. And
of course, I Saw The Light. This one had seemed
particularly promising since music bios have
helped a number of actors reach the next level
- Reese Witherspoon, Jamie Foxx, Jeff Bridges,
Val Kilmer. And here Hiddleston is playing
one of the greatest country music singers
to ever live, Hank Williams, whose own son
Hank Williams Jr also became a country music
legend. We're talking the start of a dynasty
here! And things were looking really good,
until Sony Pictures Classics decided to move
the film out of Oscar contention in 2015 to
a Spring 2016 release date. Yikes. Now, maybe
Sony thinks it can get out ahead of the 2016
contenders with this release date, but considering
the weak pack of nominees in 2015, it's not
exactly encouraging that Sony felt I Saw the
Light couldn't compete. To make matters worse,
I Saw The Light is written and directed by
a man more famous for producing than writing-directing,
Marc Abraham, and he's only directed one other
movie ever - the similarly overlooked Flash of Genius.
Oof, is Tom Hiddleston the new Greg Kinnear?
