Seriously, who would’ve thought Justin Bieber‘s career would have lasted this long? When the pint-sized sensation first came on the scene with that hair, doe-like eyes and platitudes of love that warmed the hearts of nine-year-olds everywhere we pretty much figured he’d get his fifteen minutes of fame, fade out of the spotlight and become an accountant or something. But here we are in 2011, with “Never Say Never” becoming the third highest grossing non-fiction film of all time (we weep). Clearly, Bieber isn’t going anywhere and it looks like his handlers are ready to spin this kid into a multi-quadrant star, and it’s likely they’re using the Justin Timberlake blueprint.
On the other side of the spectrum there’s Ashton Kutcher, the former “Punk’d” and “That ’70s Show” star who has graduated into being famous for being on the internet and married to Bruce Willis‘ ex-wife. It’s not like anyone goes to see him in movies: “Killers” bombed last year and we’re pretty sure more people went to see “No Strings Attached” for Ludacris than they did for Kutcher. But this being Hollywood, a terrifying idea is never far away and 24 Frames reports that somebody is going to put these two harmless non-fat ice cream flavors of celebrities into a movie together.
Based on the R-rated Black List approved script by Chris Baldi and re-written into much more broadly appealing (read: safe your for kids) version by “(500) Days of Summer” scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, the film has a “Freaky Friday” or “17 Again” sort of vibe, as it tells the story of a teenager who meets a hologram claiming to be the adult version of himself; the hologram then helps guide the teen through high school. So wait, maybe it’s more like “Ghost Dad.” But hold on, the latest tweak of the story how has the older character traveling back in time (?) to help out his high school self. Maybe we’ll just re-watch “Back To The Future” and call it a day.
Anyway, you can probably guess who will play what role. The film is set up at Sony with Kutcher’s Katalyst Entertainment and Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment (of course) producing. But it’s still early in the game. A new writer and a director are being sought, so for now Bieber fans, you’ll just have to hang on to this “C.S.I.” appearance to appreciate the acting chops the world has only just begun to recognize.
