The folks at Disney don't let any of their intellectual property stay inactive for long, so it's only a matter of time until they dust off their newly acquired animated classic King of the Hill. The only question is how it will be re-booted: ice show? Theme park ride? Maybe Hank makes a guest appearance on Spidey and his Amazing Friends?
The smart money is on King of the Hill getting the 101 Dalmatians and Aladdin treatment, and turning into a live-action movie. But who to cast? Don't worry. We've already taken care of that for you. See you in the multiplex in a couple of years.
10 BRAD LELAND AS BUCK STRICKLAND
It's been a few years since Friday Night Lights, which is perfect because it should have given Leland enough time to shed some of that magnificent hair of his. Other than Strickland being follically challenged, he and Leland's FNL character Buddy Garrity are basically twins: smooth talking, not-so-ethical small business proprietors. Garrity owns a car dealership; Strickland sells propane and propane accessories.
9 KEN JEONG AS KHAN SOUPHANOUSINPHONE
This casting is also a no-brainer, because Kahn shares that "in your face" brashness that many of Jeong's best characters seem to possess. Jeong is a Detroit native who actually became a doctor before pursuing a career in comedy. Kahn works as a "systems analyst" and is Texan by way of Laos and Anaheim.
It's easy to see Jeong insulting his neighbors in the alley, and showing off whatever new expensive purchase he's just made. And "Dr. Ken" surely knows how to golf, which will come in handy for the scenes where Khan's kissing up to Ted Wassanasong at the Nine Rivers Country Club.
8 CONSTANCE WU AS MINH SOUPHANOUSINPHONE
With Fresh off the Boat in its final season, Wu will be able to pursue a film career full time. So the star of Crazy Rich Asians and Hustlers would be perfect to play Kahn's wife, the social climbing Minh.
The daughter of a powerful Laotian general, Minh is all about family: she puts most of her efforts into making sure that daughter Connie gets into an Ivy League school on a violin scholarship. Wu's character on FOTB has similar "tiger mom" sensibilities. It's also easy to see Wu having fun tapping into Minh's legendary wild side. Minh's an expert marksman and enjoys intimate funtime with Khan in the Hills' bed when they're not around.
7 PAUL WALTER HOUSER AS BILL DAUTERIVE
Paul Walter Houser played a Canadian Mountie in Super Troopers 2 and a hapless security guard in Richard Jewell, so playing sad sack Army barber Bill Dauterive wouldn't be a stretch.
Bill is Hank's neighbor and lifelong friend. He's also a bit of a mess: after his wife Lenore left him, he had a nervous breakdown. The depths of his depression caused him to dress up in her clothing and actually pretend to be her. He eventually recovered, but is perpetually lonely for the bulk of the series. Houser would be brilliant in capturing Bill's pathos. He'd make us laugh, but also get us to empathize with Arlen High's former football hero, "The Billdozer."
6 DANIEL CRAIG AS BOOMHAUER
In Knives Out, the reigning James Bond displayed his knack for southern accents and comedy. He could put both talents to use playing Rainey Street's resident romeo, Boomhauer. KOTH fans actually don't know that much about Boomhauer: even though he's a man of many words, most of them are incomprehensible. And it wasn't until deep in the series's run that we learned his first name is "Jeff."
With plenty of experience playing a ladies' man, 007 would be very much at home in Boomhauer's hot tub, waterbed and tanning booth. He might want to take some banjo lessons though, if Hank and the fellas take their band back to Branson.
5 RANDY QUAID AS DALE GRIBBLE
At first glance it might seem than Quaid is too beefy to play Arlen's #1 conspiracy theorist. But you can't fake the kind of crazy that Dale's got, and Quaid's legitimately "out there." According to an article in Vanity Fair, Randy fears he's been targeted by a secret Hollywood cabal that murdered Heath Ledger and David Carradine, while setting Robert Blake up for murder.
These types of shenanigans are right in Dale Gribble's wheel house. The owner-operator of "Dale's Dead Bug" believes that the Super Bowl was taped in the same hangar in Nevada where the moon landing was filmed. He also thinks his son Joseph was fathered by an alien.
In addition to having the same mindset as Dale, Quaid has the cred. He was born in Texas, and played Cousin Eddie in the Vacation movies.
4 MARGOT ROBBIE AS LUANNE PLATTER
She's played Harley Quinn and Tonya Harding. She was nominated for awards in Bombshell and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And now for Margot Robbie's most important role yet... Peggy Hill's niece, Luanne Platter.
Margot's got the right look, and has proven to be a chameleon on the silver screen. She could certainly put her own mark on the eternal beauty school student and creator of the public access Christian puppet show "Manger Babies." Usually sweet and naive, Luanne exhibits underlying strength when she needs to. This got her through her mother's prison sentence and her boyfriend Buckley's death. Robbie has the range to capture all of Luanne's facets.
3 JEREMY RAY TAYLOR AS BOBBY HILL
The star of the two Stephen King It movies would make a great Bobby Hill. "The boy ain't right" became Hank's catchphrase, as the propane salesman is constantly frustrated by his son. There's his aversion to the outdoors. His dalliance with Buddhism. And his love for Christian rock. Hank wanted nothing more for his son to be a jock, but every time the child got involved with sports, it was a disaster.
As the smartest member of "The Losers Club," Taylor's character Ben Hanscom has plenty of experience with clowns. So does Bobby: he's been a rodeo clown and studied comedia dell' arte under the great Professor Twilley at Arlen Community College. A native of Tennessee, Taylor would make a great fit playing the Texan. In the picture above, you can almost hear him saying "Vat are you talking about?"
2 LAURA DERN AS PEGGY HILL
Fresh off her Oscar win for "Marriage Story," Dern is ready for the role of her career -- substitute Spanish teacher extraordinaria Margaret J. Hill. Dern is a woman of many accomplishments. Peggy thinks she's a woman of many accomplishments. So give Laura some glasses, a dye job and some culottes and she could easily fit into Peggy's size 16 1/2 shoes.
Dern actually lent her voice to an episode, playing a "serving wench" who worked with Peggy at a Renaissance Fair. So she gets the show. She'd be the perfect actress to serve up "spa-peggy and meatballs" at a theater near you.
1 HENRY DEAN MORGAN AS HANK HILL
Your mom loved him on Grey's Anatomy. You hated him on The Walking Dead. Maybe it's time to love Henry Dean Morgan again as Arlen's most trusted propane salesman. Afterall, he's got the hair and the glasses. All he needs is a t-shirt and a can of Alamo beer.
Morgan's got an air of authority about him - people just don't listen to him because he carries a barbed-wired baseball bat. That's key, because Hank is the reluctant leader of everyone around him. Morgan also looks like a guy who played football in high school. And after decades in TV, the dude's ready to pop as a movie star. That makes TV's Negan our choice to take Hank's seat on his beloved riding lawn mower.