Robert Downey Jr. Will Take 'The Voyage Of Doctor Dolittle'

If you’re wondering what happens when you go from being the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind “Traffic” to the filmmaker responsible for the critically manhandled box-office flop “Gold,” look no further than Stephen Gaghan. The man once carrying the brand for prestige drama is going to make a Doctor Dolittle movie.

READ MORE: The Copper-Alloyed ‘Gold’ With Matthew McConaughey Can’t Strike It Rich [Review]

THR reveals that Robert Downey Jr. — who banked his blockbuster card a long time ago — will star in “The Voyage Of Doctor Dolittle,” which Gaghan will write and direct, probably because no major studio is going to bankroll something serious, especially off the back of the Matthew McConaughey vehicle. There’s no word yet on what this take will be, but the property has already been through one 1967 musical and a 1998 remake starring Eddie Murphy. So, nowhere to go but up, really…

Universal won the rights to the project, and while there’s no word on when it might begin, I’d presume that RDJ and co. will turn their attention to the project once he’s done with the next two ‘Avengers‘ movies currently filming. And I wonder if this now renders his “Pinocchio” project at Warner Bros. dead, considering “The Voyage Of Doctor Dolittle” fills the family movie niche pretty readily.