British secret agents have been thoroughly spoofed in Johnny English, Austin Powers and Die Another Day, so now it’s time for an American spy to get the parody treatment.
Warner Bros.’ big-screen remake of the 1960s TV show Get Smart, itself a satire of espionage stories, has found its director – someone who has already proven (financially) successful with remake material. The Longest Yard director Peter Segal, whose Sandler-centric career also includes 50 First Dates and Anger Management, will provide mission objectives to Steve Carell, who joined the project (replacing Will Ferrell) before making the highly suspect decision to star in a semi-sequel to Bruce Almighty.
The classic series starred the late Don Adams as Agent 86, a clueless operative for CONTROL helping to rid the world of the evil forces of KAOS using blind luck, a competent partner and an array of dubious gadgetry (including the famous shoe-phone). A sexy actress to play the reliable Agent 99 has yet to be named.
Warner Bros. is utilizing the “nostalgia method” of filmmaking that seems to be so popular these days at studios like Paramount and Paramount, pulling a property from the vaults and thrusting it into the 21st century – the movie will be a contemporized version of the show wherein CONTROL is facing hard times due to underfunding, as opposed to our actual “intelligence” agencies.