BS BULLETIN:
- Randy Quaid is furious that Anne Hathaway will star alongside Tom Cruise in the newly announced “Days of Thunder” sequel, calling her a “leftist, woke, horrible choice.”
- Quaid says the NASCAR movie’s audience is MAGA and wants Cruise to reunite onscreen with his ex-wife and original “Days of Thunder” co-star Nicole Kidman.
- Quaid’s advice to Cruise was characteristically subtle: “Don’t be a p***y, Tom Cruise.”
Randy Quaid has some casting notes for Tom Cruise.
They are not subtle.
Paramount announced Saturday that Cruise will climb back behind the wheel as Cole Trickle in a “Days of Thunder” sequel nearly four decades after the 1990 NASCAR movie.
Anne Hathaway is joining him.
Randy Quaid would like to speak to the manager.
“Anne Hathaway is a leftist, woke, horrible choice for DAYS OF THUNDER NASCAR audience who are MAGA,” Quaid wrote on X over the weekend.
Quaid should know something about the original audience. He played Tim Daland, the wealthy car dealer and team owner who recruits Cruise’s Cole Trickle in the first film.
And Quaid already has another actress in mind. “We need Nicole back,” he wrote, referring to Nicole Kidman, who played Dr. Claire Lewicki in the original and subsequently became Cruise’s wife.
Then Quaid addressed Cruise directly. “Don’t be a p***y, Tom Cruise. You need the original girl.”
Quaid insisted it wasn’t personal. “It’s filmmaking.”
Then it got personal.
Quaid took a swipe at the pregnant Hathaway’s sex appeal before returning to his pitch for Kidman. “The sexy older chick for Tom in this film needs to be Nicole,” Quaid wrote. “That’s the casting that would sell the idea.”
Hathaway isn’t actually replacing Kidman.
Variety reports Hathaway will play a new character — a race-team owner and engineer — while Cruise reprises Cole Trickle. There has been no announcement that Kidman’s Claire Lewicki was ever intended to fill that role.
There is also the teensy matter of Cruise and Kidman having divorced in 2001.
Quaid remains undeterred. His argument is basically that Hollywood doesn’t understand who buys tickets to a NASCAR movie.
Hathaway’s politics became a conservative talking point earlier this summer when a 2018 speech resurfaced in which she discussed what she called a societal “myth” placing heterosexuality, cisgender identity and whiteness at the center of society.
Quaid apparently remembers. And he thinks NASCAR fans will too. He even suggested something suspicious was happening behind the scenes. “This is a weird thing, like they want it to come out and tank,” Quaid wrote.
Hathaway, meanwhile, appears considerably less worried.
She appeared alongside Cruise in the Saturday announcement at Daytona International Speedway, standing beside a race car promoting the movie’s summer 2028 release. “I’m gonna have this baby, and then we’re gonna make this movie,” Hathaway said in the promotional video. “That’s a good idea,” Cruise replied.
The sequel is scheduled for June 2, 2028, with Jonathan Levine directing and Cruise producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.
No word yet on whether Quaid will be offered a part. Although after this weekend, Paramount probably knows where to find his casting notes.
MY QUICK TAKE
I don’t know whether Anne Hathaway is going to ruin “Days of Thunder 2.”
I do know Randy Quaid just made the press tour two years before the movie opens.
And asking Tom Cruise to dump Anne Hathaway and reunite onscreen with the ex-wife he divorced 25 years ago?
Cousin Eddie has apparently moved into casting.
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- Mediaite — Pro-Trump ‘Days of Thunder’ Star Urges Tom Cruise to Boot ‘Woke’ Anne Hathaway From Sequel
- Variety — ‘Days of Thunder’ Star Randy Quaid Says Anne Hathaway Is ‘Woke’ and a ‘Horrible Choice’ for the Sequel
- Variety — Anne Hathaway Joins Tom Cruise in ‘Days of Thunder’ Follow-Up
- Forbes — Randy Quaid Slams ‘Woke’ Casting of Anne Hathaway in ‘Days of Thunder 2’
- Associated Press — Tom Cruise Announces a Follow-Up Film to ‘Days of Thunder’ to Hit Theaters in 2028
