It’s been known for a while that the producers of the Arthur remake were looking to take the character of Hobson – played so perfectly by John Gielgud in the 1981 original -in a different, female direction. And now they’ve locked in their choice: Helen Mirren.
While it had been rumoured that the filmmakers wanted Meryl Streep to take the role alongside the new Arthur (Russell Brand), we couldn’t be happier with Mirren nabbing the part instead.
The Dudley Moore-starring comedy saw Hobson dispensing advice to the drunken lothario heir, who is threatened with getting cut off from the family wealth after refusing to marry a woman he doesn’t love.
There’s no word yet on whether the new take, scripted by Borat co-writer Peter Baynham, will follow it exactly, but we’re a lot more eager to see it now that Mirren will be the one keeping Brand in line. Well, mostly…