Irish screen actor Liam Neeson is in negotiations to replace his "A-Team" costar Bradley Cooper in the forthcoming survival thriller, "The Grey".

The film is being directed by Joe Carnahan (back in the U.S. fresh from his summer holidays in County Donegal) who directed the break even summer blockbuster "The A-Team".

The new action-packed film follows a team of oil drillers as they try to stay alive in the wild and will feature a lot of hyper-macho rough and tumble to delight its target demographic.

But observers are surprised by the age difference in the substitute casting: Cooper is 35 and Neeson is 58, wondering how actors born 23 years apart could be so interchangeable?

Industry insiders are suggesting the surprise casting may be explained by Neeson, Cooper, and Carnahan are being represented by the same talent agency, CAA, which also happens to be handling the North American distribution rights for the eventual film.

Talk about vested interests! But the truth is no one really knows. the real reason may be that Carnahan simply enjoyed working with the actors on his "A-Team" flick and decided to repeat the experience.