With this year’s “Win Win,” writer-director Tom McCarthy not only proved that “The Station Agent” and “The Visitor” were more than flukes, but he also made one of the best films of the admittedly lackluster year (thus far). It’s already his biggest box office success to date, and the actor-turned helmer is more in demand than ever — he’s already taken one big studio gig, writing the baseball drama “Million Dollar Arm” for Disney (having worked with the studio once before, penning a few drafts of Pixar‘s “Up“), and now another one is lined up as well.
The Hollywood Reporter reveals that McCarthy has been hired to rewrite “Home Movies,” a project set up at DreamWorks by 21 Laps, the production shingle of “Night at the Museum” director Shawn Levy. The script, originally written by Jared Stern (“Mr. Popper’s Penguins“) is described by THR as both “a supernatural drama” and “a family comedy,” and follows a man who is able to change key moments in his life by rewatching old home movies.
With Stern and Levy involved, we’d ordinarily have stayed far away from this one, reminiscent as it is of high-concept monstrosities like “Click,” but McCarthy’s involvement has certainly piqued our interest, although we imagine it’s unlikely his involvement will go beyond rewrite duties: he’s considering directing “Million Dollar Arm,” depending on how the script turns out, and may also have self-generated projects in the works. Time will tell.
