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Disney+ has made significant progress on their remake of Holes, announcing its main cast. Holes was originally a book released in 1998 by author Louis Sachar. It has since become a classic work of young adult fiction, and was adapted into a 2003 movie of the same name. That version of Holes featured a leading cast including Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Tim Blake Nelson, Bryon Cotton, and Khleo Thomas. At the beginning of this year, Disney+ picked up a Holes TV series for pilot.
As per Variety, the cast of the Holes series remake has been set. The series will include Greg Kinnear, Aidy Bryant, Shay Rudoplph, Flor Delis Alicea, Anire Kim Amoda, Noah Cottrell, Iesha Daniels, Sophie Dieterlen, Alexandra Doke, and Maeve Press. These cast members’ characters have also been revealed. Kinnear will play The Warden, a main character from the book and original movie. Bryant will play a camp counselour named Sissy and Rudolph will play Stanley stand-in Hayley. An initial logline for the show was also revealed, which can be found below:
“In this reimagining of the beloved 1998 book from Louis Sachar, a teenage girl (Rudolph) is sent to a detention camp where the ruthless Warden (Kinnear) forces the campers to dig holes for a mysterious purpose.”
What This Means For Holes
Holes Will Be Gender Swapped
The Holes TV show will reimagine the original novel and movie, which features an all-boys camp. The Disney+ version of the story keeps the main plot, which sees campers digging holes, but gender swaps the main characters. As such, Rudolph plays a young teenage girl, Hayley, who will be the main character in place of Stanley Yelnats. Other characters include Alicea as Queenie, Amoda as Thumbelina, Cottrell as Kitch, Daniels as Mars, Dieterlen as Sticky, Doke as Eyeball, and Press as Shrimp.
The character descriptions also revealed that the Holes show will modernize some of its main themes. Mars is described as “a bit of a player among the queer female campers,” suggesting that the show will portray LGBTQ+ characters. Besides the 19th century interracial romance in the past, the book is fairly devoid of any romantic plot points, but it sounds like the new Holes show will change that idea.
Our Take On This Holes Casting News
Gender-Bending Has A Tough Reputation
Gender-swapping has a complicated reputation in Hollywood these days. On the one hand, stories about women and girls are vastly underrepresented in the media. This does not always go over well with audiences, however, as has been the case for the 2016 women-led version of Ghostbusters and more. Holes is a beloved book and movie at this point, so the new version of the story will have big shoes to fill. In this process, the gender-bent nature of Holes could either work to its benefit or its detriment.
More to come…
Source: Variety