Nick Cassavetes Replaces Liam Neeson in‘The Hangover Part II’| /Film

The question of one particular cameo inThe Hangover Part IIhas been a popular discussion topic for the past several months.Mel Gibsonwas once slated to appear, then he was cut. His replacement wasLiam Neeson, but now there has been another change. DirectorTodd Phillipsdecided to reshoot the scene in which the cameo featured, and Liam Neeson is no longer available. (Blame theClash of the Titanssequel.) So he’s been replaced byThe NotebookdirectorNick Cassavetes.

Varietysays that a cut immediately after the cameo scene necessitated the reshoot, because the scene with the cameo now needs to give up more story information. Good enough; it’s the sort of thing that happens relatively often.

And since the role is a Bangkok tattoo artist, the inked-up Nick Cassavetes is perhaps a more appropriate person to cast, if hardly possessing the same level of recognizance as Liam Neeson or Mel Gibson. Maybe he should have a copy ofThe Notebooklaying around somewhere so a few more audience members might get the joke?

This is a pretty small point for the film overall, though. The much bigger question is: doesThe Hangover Part IIactually have any laughs to offer? The first full-length trailer released not long ago landed with a resounding thud, and made the film look like nothing more than a pure recreation, beat for beat, of the first movie. Not to put too fine a point on it, the trailer was awful. What will Todd Phillips and WB do to overcome the perception of the film created by that first important ad?

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