Earlier this year, it looked for a brief moment like the “Greenberg” team of Ben Stiller and Noah Baumbach were going to reunite for the kids’ film, “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” Unfortunately, they both left the project and suddenly the lead role became a hot item with Jim Carrey, Owen Wilson and Jack Black being eyed as top contenders for the gig. Well, one has emerged victorious.
Jim Carrey will star in the film about “a modest house painter who receives from Admiral Drake’s Antarctica explorations a penguin in the mail. Well, one penguin turns into 12 Adelie penguins and the Poppers find the only way to keep everyone fed and a roof over their heads is to turn the penguins into performers.” Sounds cute. The film will utilize a draft by Jared Stern (“Bolt”), who is reworking the script written by Sean Anders and John Morris (“Sex Drive,” “She’s Out Of My League”). Mark Waters (“The Spiderwick Chronicles”) will direct.
No word yet on a production start date but we won’t be surprised if it gets rolling before the end of the year. Just this morning we reported on a number of potential Carrey films in the works, including the Larry Charles-directed comedy “Pierre Pierre,” “Damn Yankees” (which seems stuck in development hell), “Burt Wonderstone” and “Under Cover,” but “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” looks like the one that will be next for the rubber-faced comedian. [Deadline]
