Reshoots seem to becoming more and more common these days, seemingly as much a part of the movie-making process as the editing room. For example, the retelling of The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro, has had more of a rough revision process than any other movie in recent memory. Of course, it's always been normal for films to get a couple of extra days at the end of the original shooting period to tweak some odds and ends that weren't done right in the time originally allocated. But it becomes more of an issue when it's not just days but weeks of reshooting that get scheduled.

That's the case with the upcoming Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich-starring comic book Western , Jonah Hex. Brolin plays the titular scarred antihero who is a rough-and-tumble gunslinger and part-time bounty hunter, and whose adventures always ended in blood. Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett and Michael Shannon co-star in the Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who!) directed film.

SpoilerTV is reporting that Jonah Hex will be going through a series of reshoots next year between January 18th and February 1st. That's a fortnight added tothe months of shooting it already went through - a few days is fine but a full two weeks seems a bit much. Does this mean a shaky production or did the filmmakers simply underestimate how much time they would need?

A casting call has gone out detailing the different characters that will be involved in the reshot scenes. They include Jonah's wife, Cassie, and Jeb Turnbull, the son of Malkovich's villainous character, Quentin. Here's the full casting call details, courtesy of SpoilerTV:

  • [CASSIE] - wife of 'Jonah Hex' (Josh Brolin). Native American. Pretty, young, sexy.
  • [TRAVIS] - age 9 (to play younger)... Must be a match to Josh Brolin and Native American 'Cassie'.
  • [JEB TURNBULL] - son of 'Quentin Turnbull' (John Malkovich). 30 - 35. Skinny, southern accent. Needs one or two days for prosthetics.
  • [PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON] - 50-60. Look alike, if possible.
  • [ADVISOR] - to President Johnson. Younger, 1870's version of a "West Wing" character.
  • [DEAD GUY] - late 20s/30s. Scary looking.. May need a day for prosthetics/possible make-up.

For some speculation on how long and significant these reshot scenes might be, you can head over to /Film where they've read one of the earlier script drafts.

On top of the casting call details, Bloody-Disgusting has nabbed a surprising little piece of info that's being treated strictly as a RUMOR until it's confirmed or denied: Apparently, even though Jimmy Hayward was behind the camera directing most of Jonah Hex, the reshoots might be handled by a new director in the form of Francis Lawrence, who helmed the Will Smith film, I Am Legend and the Keanu Reeves comic book adaptation, Constantine.

Does a possible new director and news of extensive reshoots smell like trouble to you? Granted, the new director thing is just a rumor at this point, but if true it doesn't look all that great for the movie, I must say.

Jonah Hex - Josh Brolin

Josh Brolin as the scarred antihero, Jonah Hex

Despite these possible issues, I'm still very much looking forward to Jonah Hex. And this is coming from someone who hadn't heard of the character until the movie was announced. As an outsider looking in, it seems like a very interesting character with a lot of cinematic potential, and the cast they have is pretty great. I hope these reshoots turn out to the result of time constraints, and the project finishes with as little trouble as possible.

What do you make of Jonah Hex getting a two-week reshoot period? Do you think the new director bit (if true) is something to be worried about?

Jonah Hex hits theaters next summer on June 18th, 2010.

Sources: SpoilerTV, Bloody-Disgusting and /Film