I do not understand how team Carpenter in any way thought Tom Atkins was a good fit for hot romantic lead opposite a twentysomething (in both that and The Fog).
Because Carpenter goes against the grain and doesn’t cast actors the way studio heads think he should? Who else would have cast Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken? (Or Elvis for that matter.) He was still thought of as that wacky teenager from Disney comedies at the time.
I think the casting of The Fog remake speaks for itself. 😉
There’s going against what the studios would do, and then there’s going against what any reasonable person would do.