Caffeinated Clint
A couple of weeks ago we were smothering slime into a tissue with news that Steve Carell wouldn’t be cameoing in “The Muppets” as planned… but sounds like he’s got something much better than frogs legs (why do I suddenly hear Charles Durning singing!?) cooking.
Under the supervision of “Moneyball” director Bennett Miller, Carell is prepping to headline a new true crime drama called “Foxcatcher”.
Interestingly enough, when asked recently by Moviehole’s Ashleigh whether or not he’s interested in branching out and doing something other than comedies Carell responded with a positive ‘yes’ but added that he didn’t want it to look like a ‘facetious’ movie.
Facetious? No, brave? Yes. But also very exciting.
Carrell, seen recently in “Crazy Stupid Love”, would take on a very challenging role this time around.
Here’s what Variety says of the project :
Miller has been developing the project for at least four years. The “Moneyball” helmer will direct from a script by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, who wrote Miller’s debut feature, “Capote.” Miller will also produce with Jon Kilik and Anthony Bregman.
Production is expected to start in March. Project was set up at MRC but is now shopping for a new distrib.
A paranoid schizophrenic and heir to the du Pont chemical fortune, John du Pont built a wrestling training facility called Team Foxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate, whereFoxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate, where in 1996, he shot and killed Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz.
Schultz was a longtime friend of du Pont who had repeatedly tried to help him. Police never established a motive for the crime, which was witnessed by Schultz’s wife and du Pont’s head of security. After the shooting, du Pont locked himself in his mansion for two days while he negotiated with police on the telephone.
Du Pont died last year in a Pennsylvania prison at age 72.
Carell does seem to be less interested in the out-and-out slapstick stuff these days (who can blame him after the failure of “Evan Almighty” and “Get Smart” I guess?) with “Crazy Stupid Love” even possessing a more grounded, serious tone than his previous movies, and of course his role in the upcoming Meryl Streep flick “Great Hope Springs” promises to be anything but Apatow-esque. But if you’ve seen his terrific performance in “Little Miss Sunshine” or his understaded close-to-dramatic performance in “Dan in Real Life”, you’ll know Carell is more than capable of pulling a Ted Danson and swapping the laughs for gasps.
