Well, this is an interesting twist. Eddie Murphy looks like he's set to make his first movie worth caring about in over a decade, joining Ben Stiller in the Brett Ratner-directed "Tower Heist."
Ok, so here comes the interesting part. Way back in the film's earliest development it was being groomed as a vehicle for Murphy (with Chris Rock and Chris Tucker also once attached) passing through a number of screenwriting hands until this year when it became a Ben Stiller vehicle with Noah Baumbach being brought on board to polish the script, particularly, Stiller's character.
It will be interesting to see Murphy actually act in a role that doesn't require him to voice animals, play fifteen different parts or generally pander to five-year-olds in the audience. We also wager his usually high price tag has been brought down considerably to allow him to join the film. Murphy joins Stiller and Alan Alda in the film that will follow an "overworked manager of a luxury building (Stiller) who, along with other staff, lost their pensions to a Bernie Madoff-like Wall Street crook (Alda). It so happens that the fraudster is being held under house arrest in the luxury penthouse apartment upstairs, and the manager and four cohorts figure a heist will make them whole." No word yet on Murphy's part but we imagine he will be one of the crew working with Stiller.
So, could this be the first time in history we're actually sort of looking forward to a Brett Ratner film? Maybe. But we'll wait to see how the rest of the cast shapes up first.[EW]
If you're a hard-boiled character actor looking to get out of dodgy villain roles and bad horror movies, one of the most well-worn routes is to find a late-blooming penchant for comedy. From Robert De Niro to Christopher Walken, plenty of actors in recent memory have revived their careers by using their tough guy skills to tickle the audience's funnybone. (Or in De Niro's case, not).
The latest actor to make the switch is Ray Liotta; while he still crops up in more serious tough guy roles from time to time, he's started to make a decent living out of roles in comedies like "Wild Hogs," "Observe and Report" and "Youth in Revolt." He's got the Tobey Maguire/Elizabeth Banks dramedy "The Details" on the way, and now he's signed on to a film from one of the more potent comic teams around at the moment -- the Judd Apatow-produced, David Wain-directed comedy "Wanderlust." The comedy toplines Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston as a married couple who escape New York society by moving into a hippie commune, and also featuresLauren Ambrose, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda and Malin Akermanamong the cast. There's no word on who Liotta will play -- we've had the script for a while, but never quite got around to reading it, otherwise we'd take our usual semi-educated guess...
The pleasantly surprising "Role Models" showed that Wain could bring his comic chops from "The State" to a more mainstream audience, without diluting it, and with Apatow having his back, and a strong cast, this is one of the comedies we're most looking forward to in the next year. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Alan Alda's lengthy resume of gold is too long to mention, but needless to say, the guy rules and is incredibly funny, so consider us excited that he will lend his talents to two upcoming Universal comedies.
First up, he will join the ensemble cast of the forthcoming comedy "Wanderlust." Written by the "The State" duo of Ken Marino and David Wain and directed by the latter, the film already boasts a strong cast includingPaul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Lauren Ambrose, Justin Theroux and Malin Ackerman. The film, which is being produced by comedy heavyweight Judd Apatow,"centers on a married couple (Aniston, Rudd) who try escaping modern society by moving from New York" to a commune headed by Alda. "Wanderlust" is currently filming.
Following that, Alda will lend his talents to the Brett Ratner comedy, "Tower Heist." The working-stiffs-from-New-Yawk tale will star Ben Stiller "as the overworked manager of a luxury building who, along with other staff, lost their pensions to a Bernie Madoff-like Wall Street crook. It so happens that the fraudster is being held under house arrest in the luxury penthouse apartment upstairs, and the manager and four cohorts figure a heist will make them whole."Alda will play the faux-Madoff. Our hope for the film lies in the script written by Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven," "Matchstick Men"), reworked by longtime Brett Ratner collaborator Jeff Nathanson ("Rush Hour 2," "Rush Hour 3") with Noah Baumbach lending his contributions specifically to Stiller's character.Here's hoping Griffin and Baumbach's contributions smother Nathanson's. "Tower Heist" will go in front of cameras in November.
And remember Alan, if it bends its funny, if it breaks, it's not funny.[THR]
Well, this is an interesting twist. Eddie Murphy looks like he's set to make his first movie worth caring about in over a decade, joining Ben Stiller in the Brett Ratner-directed "Tower Heist."
