The Next Bruce Campbell

Following in the footsteps of 'B' movie actors is not the most ideal thing to do. As Bruce does less movies and television spots over the next few years, who will be the next king of the 'B' movies. One man who has established himself more with the fans and less with the mainstream media is Nathan Fillion. Born and raised in the Alberta plains (my hometown of Edmonton), Fillion just might be the next Bruce Campbell. Although he bares little resemblence to Bruce, both physically and in his craft of acting, Fillion has a growing cult fanbase that may give Bruce a run for his money. So what established Fillion as a cult actor? Fillion is best known for his role as a gunslinging cowboy 'Malcom Reynold's' in the Sci-Fi/Western series Firefly. The role sound familiar? Bruce played a gunslinging, wise cracking cowboy in a little show called Brisco County Jr. which ironically, like Firefly, were both cancelled by FOX after a season. Firefly was later ressurected by the fans, because of DVD sales, into a feature film Serenity, which will go down as one of the greatest Sci-Fi movies of all time (lets hope Brisco's DVD sales can do the same -- unlikely though). Fillion's latest film Slither, is one which confirms his presence as a mainstay cult movie actor. Given a multi-million dollar budgent by Universal, much like Army of Darkness, Fillion starred in this horror-comedy and garnered fashionable and outstanding reviews for his role as the Sheriff in the film. The film bombed at the box-office like Army of Darkness, but like Fillion's other film Serenity, Slither will go down as a cult favorite in its genre. The dream of any Bruce Campbell fan is to see Bruce land some spots of major motion pictures, but really on the inside we like Bruce's role in the entertainment industry the way it is. Is it really a bad thing for Bruce to be doing 'B' movies. For fans of Fillion who come and read this and believe that Fillion should be destined for stardom and not 'B' movies, maybe stardom is in 'B' movies. Like Bruce Campbell, 'B' movies enabled fans to see Bruce star in his own movies as the lead role instead of some minor character in a big budget movie who has a few lines. Fillion's next movie is a sequel to the hit Michael Keaton movie White Noise, in which he will be playing the lead in the film which is most likely to go direct to video. Unlike its predecessor, White Noise 2 will be known as a 'B' movie, and I personally would like to see Fillion starring in a movie like this than playing a 30 second role in a major motion picture like Saving Private Ryan. Call me selfish, but I truly believe that not making it big will be destiny for Fillion, like it was for Bruce. With the upcoming remake of the film The Evil Dead, the film that launched Bruce Campbell, I see no other person who deserves to take right to star in that film and say "Hail To The King Baby".