Here’s a project that has been knocking around a while. “Burt Wonderstone” first landed on the radar when Jim Carrey eyed it very briefly last summer, and was soon followed by Steve Carell who became attached last fall. And that was pretty much the last we heard of it, but now there is fresh movement on the project.
THR reports that mostly unknown and largely TV director Charles McDougall is in talks to direct the film which still has Carell attached to star. The film comes from “Horrible Bosses” writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, and the plot revolves around a fading traditional magician who accidentally kills his partner and is upstaged by a younger illusionist, forcing him to regain his love for magic.
McDougall seems like a good fit for the project. He’s recently directed episodes of both “The Office” and “Parks & Recreation” and has obviously worked with Carell on the former, so we imagine the actor thinks he’ll do a solid job on the film.
Of course, we don’t have to remind you that Carell is leaving “The Office” this season which is why there has been so much movie project buzz around him of late. He is set to shoot “Great Hope Springs” with Meryl Streep in August and “Burt Wonderstone” will follow, lensing in the fall. The actor also recently signed on to star in the drama “Dogs of Babel” that will offer up a different side from the actor we’ve come to know as Michael Scott.
