Horatio Hornblower.....Will Return?

Last night i watched Film4 which is a channel over here which shows films all day every day. Last night they showed 'Fantastic Four' That comic book "epic" from 2005 which starred Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans and Ioan Gruffudd. (pronounced "Yohun Griffith" Yes. He's Welsh)

The only reason i watched it is because i like Ioan Gruffudd's work. My opinion is that although he's a wonderful actor and can probably turn his hand to anything. This type of movie is a long way from his previous stellar work.

I understand that as an Actor, you don't always have the luxury of choosing your roles. So i can see Ioan only took this role to bring him to a wider audience. (something which he seemingly missed out on when he played Officer Harold Lowe in 1997's epic blockbuster 'Titanic')

The Complete Hornblower DVD Collection

He was brought to wider attention in 1998 when he was cast in ITV's high production series of C.S. Forester's literary creation Horatio Hornblower in which he played the title role. This is where i first saw him and the Hornblower series. Over the years i watched all of them when they came on Telly and the last one was made in 2003. They only made 8 episodes and It was produced in association with A&E Networks in America and they decided that it was costing too much to make them. After Hornblower ended Ioan moved to Hollywood to try his luck there. But apart from roles in "102 Dalmations" and "Black Hawk Down" as yet the only thing he seems to have been remembered for is.....yes.....Fantastic Four. I can't believe they actually squeezed a sequel out of it too since it doesn't seem to have done amazingly well. The last thing he seems to have done is a role in the 2008 George W Bush biopic "W" as Tony Blair.

Now Ioan is wanting to bring Hornblower to Hollywood and he's trying to acquire the rights to it so he can get the ball rolling. I am all for it personally but i have a feeling that Hollywood won't be receptive to Hornblower these days (Warner Bros produced 'Captain Horatio Hornblower' starring Gregory Peck as Hornblower in 1951) and with Russel Crowe's dismal 'Master and Commander' film (You may have thought it was good but to me it was so boring and not a patch on Hornblower) and another thing that Hollywood would do if they picked it up would be to change the cast and setting. They would most likely make Hornblower an American hero in the US Navy and force Ioan to (again) roll out his American accent. Hollywood sees Brits as the archetypal "Bad Guys" Ironically, the only British hero the American public likes is James Bond 007 Who was most likely inspired by Hornblower (Hornblower, like Bond, Is A British Naval Officer who Is good at cards and is daring and always comes out on top) I know I've read that Gene Roddenberry based the character of Captain James T Kirk on Hornblower.

So if Ioan does manage to do it and get Hornblower on the big screen. Please, Don't Eff it up Hollywood. You'll only be ruining an already great thing.