Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon are in talks to team up for the sci-fi-comedy “Used Guys,” which takes place in a future run by women, who clone and trade men like used cars. The project was original set to begin shooting in 2006 with Jay Roach helming the then Jim Carrey and Stiller led project before “scheduling conflicts” forced a delay. The return of the project will also see a changes in the story with Witherspoon’s female lead replacing Carrey (or at least that’s how it sounds, Emily Mortimer was once the female lead so its conceivable that Reese is replacing her, but it appears the script has been rejiggered).
“Little Miss Sunshine” directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are negotiating to take on directorial duties. We were wondering what they might do next.
Stiller and Witherspoon were also supposed to star in Cameron Crowe’s “Deep Tiki” earlier this year before it was indefinitely postponed. What does this casting announcement mean for the project now? Will their team-up make ‘Tiki’ seem redundant or give it extra juice if it does well? We say recast. We were never fans of Stiller in a Cameron Crowe vehicle and this is the perfect excuse to ditch them both.
May we suggest Amy Adams and Mark Ruffalo who would have been perfect in Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg/Untitled,” and were originally tapped to star before, ironically enough, Stiller (and Greta Gerwig) took over after Ruffalo and Adams dropped out. Here’s our script review of “Deep Tiki,” which melds “Jerry Maguire”-like male life-reevaluation cum romcom traits with Hawaiian mysticism and military satellite politics. It’s an odd mix initially, but eventually it’s a winner. [THR]