Bruce Campbell should star in the BadAsstronauts movie
These days, Grady Hendrix is said to be the second-best-selling horror writer in the world (coming in behind only Stephen King) but one of his earliest published works is a comedy novella called BadAsstronauts (originally published under the title Occupy Space). It was recently announced that BadAsstronauts is getting the film adaptation treatment, with Todd Garner and Adam Goldworm producing the film for Paramount Pictures while Hendrix serves as an executive producer – and we know exactly who should star in this movie: the legendary Bruce Campbell.
What Is BadAsstronauts?
The novella is a blue-collar space odyssey about a washed-up astrophysicist who decides, against all logic and common sense, to build a homemade rocket and launch it into orbit to rescue his cousin who’s stranded in space. It’s a story of underdogs rediscovering purpose, family, and pride as a wildly ill-advised backyard mission becomes a scrappy movement that eventually captures the imagination of the entire nation. It’s a really entertaining read that Hendrix wrote with a wonderful comedic tone. Despite its short length (the paperback edition has a page count of 166), it feels like a limited series adaptation would be even more fitting than a feature film, but it could certainly be turned into a very fun movie. Especially if that movie were to star Bruce Campbell.
Why Bruce?
The lead character in BadAsstronauts is rundown, alcoholic former astronaut Walter Reddie, and I’ll admit that the initial description of the character doesn’t match that handsome 67-year-old devil known as Bruce Campbell: “He was paunchy and pushing sixty, with bug eyes, a gray crew cut, and a face that was as ugly as a donkey’s asshole.” That’s not Bruce, but from that point on, in nearly every moment, it’s difficult to not only imagine Bruce playing the character, but also to imagine how hilarious he would be in the role.
Walter Reddie would give Bruce the chance to bring to life a character who is asked to address a graduating high school class and ends up giving them a rambling description of why “You’re f*cked.” A grumpy, old-fashioned drunk who has to deal with “a camp full of hippies” helping him with his endeavor to build a functioning homemade rocket on his farm property. A man who complains, “I don’t want to be shoved into some kind of Commie trash bag,” when he finds out he’ll have to wear an old, experimental Russian CAC suit on his trip into space. And once Walter gets into the rocket, Bruce would have viewers falling out of their seats with laughter. Elements of his Ash character from the Evil Dead franchise (particularly the older Ash in the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series) are present in Walter Reddie, and you could add a dash of his elderly Elvis Presley from Bubba Ho-tep in for good measure.
What are the chances that Bruce Campbell would be cast in the lead role of a Paramount Pictures theatrical release? Probably not as great as they should be. And sure, there are plenty of comedic actors who could do a fine job in the role of Walter Reddie – but if they want absolute perfection, Bruce is the actor they should choose.
Other Hendrix Projects
Beyond BadAsstronauts, Hendrix’s works include Satan Loves You, Horrorstör, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ‘70s and ‘80s Horror Fiction, We Sold Our Souls, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, The Final Girl Support Group, These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World, How to Sell a Haunted House, and Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. A while back, he contributed the 29 page short story Ankle Snatcher to the Amazon Original Stories Creature Feature collection, which also featured stories by Joe Hill, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Jason Mott, and Chandler Baker. The story quickly secured a film adaptation deal with Sony. When Amazon put together an original stories collection called The Shivers, Hendrix contributed the 35 page story The Blanks, which can be read in The Shivers Collection alongside stories by the likes of Stephen Graham Jones, Catriona Ward, Owen King, and, again, Joe Hill. The Blanks also secured a film adaptation deal, this one with 21 Laps, Aperture Entertainment, and the Netflix streaming service.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism was turned into a feature film that was released through Prime Video, and Horrorstör adaptations have been in the works for years. At first it was intended to be a TV series, now producers are aiming to turn it into a movie. A film adaptation of How to Sell a Haunted House is set up at Legendary Entertainment, and TV series adaptations of both The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support Group were in the works, but appear to have stalled out.
Hendrix also co-wrote the films Mohawk and Satanic Panic, as well as the documentary Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks. To date, his books have sold more than 2.4 million copies worldwide.
Have you read BadAsstronauts, and can you imagine Bruce Campbell playing Walter Reddie in a screen adaptation? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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