As far as paid vacations to Brazil go, you could probably do worse.
John Cusack, continuing his run of taking on random projects such as the international comedy “Dictablanda,” the period drama “The Paperboy,” the serial killer flick “The Frozen Ground” and the upcoming gothic crime pic “The Raven” (which actually looks pretty decent), will team with Jackass member Johnny Knoxville for the laffer “Carnaval.” Penned by former agent David Styne and re-written by Josh Stern who will also direct, the story centers on a sports scout (Cusack) who heads to Rio during Carnaval to sign the the world’s best soccer player, only to have the plan fouled up by his musician best friend (Knoxville) who tags along, and winds up sleeping with the footie star’s girlfriend. OOPS.
You can almost feel the filmmaking-by-committee machinations behind this turning. Make a comedy about the one of the world’s most popular sports? Check. Go to Brazil to film it where they are bending over backwards to host Hollywood productions? Check. Get two guys to star who are known, but not that expensive? Done. Anyway, everyone will head to Rio in January to shoot the film, which is weird, considering Carnaval will actually take place in February in 2012. [THR]
