BUBBA NOSFERATU, starring Ron Perlman as Elvis

When Bruce Campbell decided not to reprise the role of the elderly Elvis Presley for the upcoming sequel to the cult classic Bubba Ho-Tep, geeks across the globe were crestfallen. While Campbell had seemed an unlikely choice to play the King, he was excellent in the role and his performance gave the film a lot of heart. (Click on the photo at left or this text link to purchase the film on Blu-ray.)

But if Campbell was going to be replaced by anybody, Hellboy star and fan favorite Ron Perlman was the man for the job. Perlman looks even less like Elvis than Campbell did, but you just know Perlman will make the role his own. (Besides, he's had plenty of practice working with prosthetics.)

“I loved the original,” Perlman told Bloody Disgusting. “I was really surprised to hear that Bruce Campbell did not want to reprise the role. So we have his blessing. I know Bruce and I would never want to go in and replace him unless he said, ‘Hey man, I don’t want to do this one again, but good luck with it.’ So I loved the original. I love the fact that this one has Paul Giamatti in it, who I am a huge, huge fan of. And it's a cool script.”

Director Don Coscarelli has said that he put the reference to Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires in the credits of the first film as a joke, and only considered the idea for real because of fan enthusiam. He's also imagined a franchise with a different actor playing Elvis in each film, which is an idea so absolutely stupid it's genius.

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