It was too good to be true.
Simon Pegg announced this earlier via his Twitter account: “David Tennant had to drop out of B&H but by sheer glorious serendipity a legend of Middle Earth and Skull Island has come aboard. Welcome AS”
However, when you check the link of the original “tweet” it seems to have disappeared. It did happen, as evidenced by all the re-tweets and replies Pegg received, but maybe he wasn’t supposed to give out that morsel of casting information.
Serkis is connected with both actors through different projects. Pegg and Serkis both do voices in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN. In the 2008 BBC drama, EINSTEIN AND EDDINGTON, Serkis was Albert Einstein while David Tennant played astronomer, Arthur Eddington.
I’m not sure why Tennant would pass up the chance to star alongside Pegg in a film directed by John Landis. Maybe he wants a break since his run on DOCTOR WHO is over. I really think the team up of Tennant and Pegg would have been something memorable, but I’ll take Serkis instead.