featured image: Image by Alyssa from Pixabay
As there have been multiple film adaptations of The Great Gatsby, another film would be nothing new. However, I would like to see this next adaptation with an all-star cast and an amazing crew behind them. While I am not a director or studio, I believe that my ideal reimagining of the film would be received well and honor the legacy of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
So to start with, I would want the film backed by A24. They are an independent studio and are well known for making films that are high quality but also against the grain. Their brand is considered arthouse films and they are a decently young studio being founded in 2012. Some popular movies from A24 include Everything Everywhere All at Once (Academy Award winner), Midsommar, Hereditary, Lady Bird (Academy Award nominee), and Moonlight (Academy Award winner). A24 has multiple films currently out right now so they are amassing a lot of power in the film world which is hard to do given that the major studios have so much control of the industry.
The director I would hire for the movie is a hard choice as there are so many directors who I would like to see direct an adaptation but for various reasons.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxDSBixLhJuGfDdT7JymnVddAkUpW6CTZF?feature=shared
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Martin Scorsese would also be an incredible choice given his background with Wolf of Wall Street and Killers of the Flower Moon. Wolf of Wall Street showcases his ability to make great scenes with characters the audience can connect with. Killers of the Flower Moon illustrates his ability to make a good film adaptation. Scorsese’s biggest issue would be keeping the film from diving too darkly. His films often deal with real struggle and The Great Gatsby might be a bit lighter than the films he is used to.
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Set design is vital to the success of the film as the scenes have to look good and believable for the story they are telling. Adam Stockhausen worked on the set for Grand Budapest Hotel and his work was incredible. I believe his ability to make sets from ordinary things would translate well in The Great Gatsby. He also can make things appear very lavish which fits the tone of the book as everyone is wealthy.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxzIeaAMUDKLUwg71wJ0U6pNl9z6VWJxhh?feature=shared
Costumes would need to be made by Mary Zophres. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design four times. Her work for the film Babylon which is roughly the same time as The Great Gatsby proves that she knows what she is doing. She would do justice to the time period.
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The score would have to be helmed by Hans Zimmer or James Newton Howard. Hans Zimmer has experience with darker films but soundtracks that seem to go deep in your bones. James Newton Howard did the score for The Hunger Games movies and he seems to know how to perfectly set a scene through music. It might even be feasible to have them both as they have worked on films together before like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. I would hire them to set the tone of the film.
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I like the inclusion of current music that Baz Luhrmann incorporated into his adaptation so I would want someone to also make a movie soundtrack. While this may seem like a weird choice, Metro Boomin would probably do an incredible job on the soundtrack. His work with Across the Spiderverse was amazing and he would make a very interesting take on The Great Gatsby.
Now for the cast:
(Disclaimer: All images were generated by face swapping AI technology)
Gatsby would have to be played by someone charming but also complex. Taron Egerton looks the part of Gatsby. He also is a great actor and I believe he could make the part very sympathetic. He also looks pretty ish but his beauty does not match Luke Evans.
Daisy would be played by Amanda Seyfried. She has the light air about her that makers her believable as Daisy but she can also act so well that Daisy’s character revelation later in the story would still fit her. The only issue is that it’s hard to see her outside of her Mamma Mia and Mean Girls characters.
Nick would be Josh Andres Rivera. The major issue with casting him is that he looks nothing like Amanda Seyfried at all. While they are second cousins once removed, it is still hard to imagine them as ever being from the same family. But based on his performances in West Side Story and The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, he could play Nick very well. He does not seem like a major actor yet but he can give the lines as Nick very easily.
Tom would be Luke Evans. He looks the part of a physically dominant man. He acts decently well and could carry the part of Tom. He also stands apart enough from Taron Egerton to not seem like the same type of man.
Jordan presents a slight difficulty in casting because no one quite fits how I imagine her.
Myrtle is hard to cast as it’s hard to think of someone who fits her physically. She would have to be very different from Daisy. Madelaine Petsch might fit if only for her red hair. She is just not an easy character to imagine.
Wilson would need to be played by someone who seems pretty naive but could also give the emotional delivery of being a mourning widower. Jason Segel I think could play Wilson pretty well. He’s played someone with not too much depth before but he also could still deliver his lines with emotional authenticity.
Meyer Wolfsheim would be Robert De Niro. He played a gangster in The Godfather and he can do it again in The Great Gatsby. He would just have to tone it down a little bit as he does not have to seem like he is too involved with the underworld.
These are the people that I wish would make a Gatsby film adaptation. I trust them to make it right and also do well on it. They are all decently popular names right now and if they got the chemistry right then the movie could do very well. I just struggle thinking about all of these people working on the same film as a lot of them I do not see ever coming together. But I guess that’s why it’s called a fan reimagining.
My presentation of the video in voiceover.
Link to Google Slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BUiLS6_18Xl1NULqu6L-QNxPWMkvW4mIdm7aR2cc_d0/edit?usp=sharing
