While his standup hasn’t made waves in North America (we’ve seen him live, and it’s easy to see why — it’s crude, crass, oddly literate but moves so much more quickly than his American counterparts) Russell Brand’s on-screen persona of self-obsessed millionaire playboy Aldous Snow in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” proved to be so much of a hit, he got his first starring role in this summer’s spin off “Get Him To The Greek” where he will reprise the role.
Well, Warner Brothers have faith that audiences are going to want more, and in addition to the forthcoming “Arthur” remake, the studio has dropped between $6 and $7 million on a pitch by William and Scott Bindley with Russell Brand in mind. The duo, who have little to their name, have come up with a story about “a David Beckham-like millionaire soccer star/playboy who gets arrested in a West Texas and sentenced to community service. His task: coach the hapless local high school soccer team in a “Friday Night Lights” town.” Hilarity ensues. Obviously, Brand will take on the Beckham-esque role which essentially sounds like sports version of Aldous Snow and we guess there’s no point messing with a winning formula. The concept certainly isn’t new, and we’ve seen that similar fish-out-of-water story in countless other films, but with Brand involved it will certainly be lively to say the least.
As we mentioned, “Arthur” is still happening and there are rumors that Meryl Streep could be joining Brand which we would fully endorse. Brand is also in Julie Taymor’s finished “The Tempest,” though as it was set up at the now shuttered Miramax, who knows when it will see the light of day. And as we reported yesterday, “Get Him To The Greek” will be hitting theatres one week earlier on June 4th.
