Last summer, it was reported that Idris Elba had signed on to star as Alex Cross, James Patterson’s detective/psychologist who had previously been portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Kiss The Girls and Along Came A Spider, and who is now considered ripe for a reboot. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way Elba dropped out, and because there are only a handful of black actors in Hollywood and Wesley Snipes is in jail, the role has now gone to Tyler Perry in what’s being conceived as a trilogy by director Rob Cohen (The Fast And The Furious, xXx), and perceived as a desperate, marketing-driven stab at name recognition by everyone else. Of course, what everyone seems to forget is that Cross, while a brilliant criminal profiler, is chiefly known for spouting sass-back while waving a gun around. (And just think of how much more you would have learned had Perry replaced Elba on The Wire.)
Keep scrolling for more great stories from A.V. Club.