Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper enlist for 'A-Team'

Posted Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 12:08 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

I love it when a cast comes together.

Director Joe Carnahan must be uttering those words as he just acquired some hard-hitting talent for the big screen A-Team adaptation. According to numerous sources, Bradley Cooper is in talks to star as Templeton "Faceman" Peck and Liam Neeson is negotiating his role as John "Hannibal" Smith.

Cooper, star of the current The Hangover, is set to take over the role made famous on TV by Dirk Benedict. Neeson (Taken) will be leader of the mercenary team played by George Peppard on the show.

In my opinion, this is good news for the project. I have a lot of respect for these two thesps. Carnahan is no slouch either -- we have big love for Smokin' Aces. Having brothers Tony and Ridley Scott on as producers is the icing on the cake.

In other words, the flick already sounds better than this summer's G.I. Joe movie.

What about the rest of the team? IMDb has a rumored listing of Woody Harrelson as Murdock. I think that's a good choice. Woody exudes crazy.

The site has rapper-turned-actor Common down for Mr. T's famed B.A. role. I can buy that as well. It's a far better pick than the ultimate fighters Kimbo Slice and Quentin Jackson some people would like to see.

The IMDb rumors are exactly that as they have Bruce Willis down for Hannibal. Obviously that's out the door now.

The A-Team is already scheduled for a June 11, 2010 release in theaters.

Who would you like to see as B.A. Baracus and Murdock? Extending it further, what about female lead Amy Amanda Allen? Send in your suggestions. (Let's put a moratorium on Michael Clarke Duncan, Ving Rhames, and Tyrese Gibson for B.A. I think this film is beyond these guys now.)