Ever since Benedict Cumberbatch became a celebrity – approximately after Sherlock’s first season aired – he’s been offered consistent voice work. And he takes it, which is nice. He has a great voice, and he probably loves doing a few days here and there on animated films, documentaries, commercial voiceover gigs, etc. He’s good at it too, so when I heard this news, I wasn’t really upset at all. I think it’s a good fit, actually! Benedict Cumberbatch is going to voice the Grinch in another animated version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
Benedict Cumberbatch will voice the villainous Grinch in Universal’s animated The Grinch. Chris Meledandri, Illumination Entertainment CEO, made the major casting announcement Wednesday during Universal Studios’ presentation at the CinemaCon convention of theater owners.
“Choosing the actor to voice The Grinch, we were determined to make a choice that would not only define this version of The Grinch as absolutely singular, but most importantly, we were looking for a voice to express comedic wickedness while embodying vulnerability,” said Meledandri. “It is that vulnerability that allows us to create a character that is not only highly entertaining, but also has an irresistible appeal.”
The animated project is expected out Nov. 10, 2017 — 17 years after the live-action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey. The classic rendition of the Seuss story is the TV version directed by Chuck Jones and featuring the voice of Boris Karloff as The Grinch.
The green Grinch lives in a cave bitterly watching the happy people of Whoville below him and vows to take Christmas away from them. Meledandri promised the movie version would be “both modern and classic.”
I never saw the live-action version with Jim Carrey, but I’ve seen the original animated film a million times – it was already a classic when I was growing up. And isn’t the original animated film always shown on network TV around the holidays too? My point is that they really don’t NEED to remake the animated film. But if they are hellbent on redoing it, I’m glad they got Bendy to do the voice.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
MY VOTE: Great.
+1. I would listen him talk about grouting my tub just to hear him speak.
Grrrrrrrroutt. mmmm.
Why can’t we make ORIGINAL stuff anymore?
Nothing will beat the classic.
Agreed. Leave the original alone.
No. No. No. Boris Karloff has the classic Grinch voice. Do not ruin my childhood, Hollywood.
I am so sick of Cumberbatch. Ugh.
Every time there’s a remake of something, people freak out about their childhoods being ruined. I don’t get it at all. Do all copies of the original get destroyed? Are you never allowed to watch it again? That reaction honestly makes no sense.
You said it.
Another remake?: Blech! The choice for the voice?: Perfect!
+1
+1
Bendy could read the phone book and give me naughty feelings. Vote: YES
Completely unnecessary. Let’s remake Gone With The Wind and Casablanca while we’re at it. There are millions of other stories waiting to be told instead of messing around with perfection.
Yes, I’m grinchy. Boris Karloff rules
Don’t worry they’ll probably remake Twilight first, hasn’t it been more than 5 years already since the first one? Or Pretty Woman? Is it been awhile since they’ve done a remake of a romcom.
I think they should do something new & original but you know Hollywood loves a good remake.
5 year Twilight remake. lol
Or a bad one, more like.
One time too many. I had to watch the live version many times before I liked it. Not a Jim Carrey fan and I love the original animated one with Boris Karloff as the narrator!
The Carrey version was so freaking creepy, my kids still won’t watch it.
The original was perfection, but the story is timeless and I will see this when it comes out. Babies will be tweens. Gah!
unnecessary.
Why? WHY?
The original is so good. Why put yourself through the effort of remaking something that is already wonderful? What’s next, a remake of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special?
Ugh.
Shameless money-grubbing is the only reason that I can think why anyone would remake perfection.
WTF? No, just no….Boris was the best narrator EVER!
Not just Boris.. but CHUCK JONES TOO? Kids now have no idea the genius of Chuck’s amazing art anymore. WHY EXACTLY is a remake needed? They don’t want kids knowing what beautiful hand-drawn animation looks like? The original was perfect – it didn’t stray from the source material at all. What are they going to do – stretch out the story (again) and make it into something it doesn’t need to be?
Nothing against Cumberbatch.. but nope. NOT NEEDED.
Nope. No matter how great he thinks his voice is, he will NEVER be Boris Karloff. I broke the VHS player watching it when I was 4, one Christmas. Best.
His voice is the only thing still good about him these days. But this remake is only a money maker for Cumby; he would read the phone book if they paid him enough. He should be renamed Faust. lol
I don’t mind remakes if done well, it can give a fresh perspective with more depth. More 21st century. Even though the Force Awakens isn’t a remake I preferred that story to all the others, showing female and black leads.
I love Dr Seuss growing up so do my kids. I’m looking forward to it.
One set of remakes I would like – the Star Wars episodes with all the same actors EXCEPT Hayden Christiansen. A different actor for Anakin Skywalker. And add a love interest between Padme and Obi-Wan to make a triangle. That would explain a lot of things-
If it’s cute like The Lorax, I’d watch it. But unnecessary remake is unnecessary.
Boris was the perfect choice at the time. His work is amazing. I love Cumby at work too, and I am very curious to see what he will do with this. It’s a great honor, really. BC’s voice is also magic, so if they have to have a re-do (which they don’t need!) then he is a great choice.
I said it upthread — leave the original alone.
Not only shameless money-grubbing, but completely against the message of the story: that Christmas isn’t about material things. You know the merchandising campaign for this will be huge.
That comment is wins all the awards Melody. Could not agree more. And the fact that Cumby is involved makes it all the worse. So sick of this guy.
Preach sister, preach
so sick or remake, rebots, sequels, prequels, pat 1,2,3,4,5,6,7…
There are so many delightful children’s literature why on earth do we need to keep making the same movie over and over?
Will it still be just a half hour or is this going to be a stretched out animated feature film?
Isn’t LeAnn Rimes the obvious choice to portray anything having to do with the Grinch?