Kristen Wiig In Talks For Walter Mitty
She may star with Ben Stiller
Now that she appears to have shoved a Van Helsing-style stake through the idea that she’ll be involved with any Bridesmaids sequel (for the moment, at least), Kristen Wiig is on the lookout for her next big gig. And according to The Hollywood Reporter, she’s now in talks to co-star with Ben Stiller in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.
The remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye comedy, had been mired in development for years until it finally got some real traction last April when Ben Stiller jumped aboard to both direct and star in the tale of a mundane man whose dreams and fantasies fill his life.
Last week Shirley MacLaine entered talks to play his mother and the film got yet another re-write from Steve Conrad, switching the Mitty character to a magazine photo manager who finds adventure when he goes looking for a missing negative. Now Wiig is circling the role of one of Mitty’s co-workers, a woman who also happens to feature prominently in his daydreams (no, not like that you filthy lot… Though we expect there will be some romance).
It’s not the only film that Wiig is planning to fit in around her Saturday Night Live duties this year – she’s also attached to Sean Penn’s next film The Comedian, playing the love interest for a belligerent jokester (Robert De Niro). Plus she recently nabbed a role in Freezing People Is Easy alongside Paul Rudd.
She’s already got roles in Friends With Kids, Revenge For Jolly! and Imogene in the can.
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Ben Younger Punches In For Paz
Directing the boxing biopic
Boxing biopics usually fall into one of two categories – the young upstart pup who shows the old dogs how it’s done (but struggles along the way) and the guy everyone has counted out (even the ref a few times) who somehow makes his way back. Boiler Room director Ben Younger has just signed on to make one from the second list – Paz.
The film will follow the true-life tale of Vinny Pazienza, a pugilist in his prime who broke his neck in a car accident and was told he’d never walk again. But he refused to give into that prognosis, and ended up winning three more world titles despite his injury. Now that’s guts.
Producer Chad A Verdi – who, according to Variety has known Paz since childhood – has been trying to shove the film through development for several years now. He locked in sports biopic veteran and Hoosiers/Rudy writer Angelo Pizzo to craft the script in 2010 but has been looking for a director. With Younger in place and taking another pass on the screenplay, the plan is to start shooting in September.
Younger last made Meryl Streep/Uma Thurman comedy Prime in 2005 and since then has mostly worked on TV shows. This will hopefully mark something of a comeback for him…
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Ben Younger Punches In For Paz
Billy Bob Thornton Vs A Bear?
He’s signed on for Red Machine
If you thought Yogi Bear was terrifying, you were right. But Saw V director David Hackl is looking to make sure you find bears scary for the old fashioned reason: because they can eat your face off and still have room for a nice limb dessert. He’s been gearing up to make wilderness drama Red Machine for ages now and has finally locked in Billy Bob Thornton, James Marsden and Thomas Jane to star.
Marsden and Jane will be two estranged brothers who decide that what they really need to patch up their differences is a healthy hiking trip out into some remote woods with their girlfriends. But then things go a little red in tooth and claw when they’re relentlessly stalked and attacked by a grizzly bear. Thornton, meanwhile, will be a legendary bear expert and hunter who must help them survive.
“In Red Machine I want to examine the thrill of very real fear,” Hackl tells Variety. “An audience is more easily drawn in by a story that they consider plausible and relatable – something that could actually take place in the real world. Just by the premise you know something bad is going to happen.”
The bear action will be handled by the long-time ursidae wranglers at Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, which provided furry friends for such films as The Edge and Legends Of The Fall. We’re unsure at this time which company will be wrangling Thornton.
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Billy Bob Thornton Vs A Bear?