For a lot of folks, Alan Arkin’s Oscar win for Supporting Actor was the equivalent of waking up with three beautiful women and a squirrel in your underpants. It was that surprising, considering a lot of people were leaning toward the Eddie Murphy "it’s due" theory, including Eddie Murphy (who is rumored to have quietly left the show after not having his named called, which, frankly, I couldn’t care less about). Still, Arkin lent a caustic warmness to Grampa, who was really most of Little Miss Sunshine‘s heart anyway. Good for him.
And good for Get Smart. Arkin has been added to the cast of the yuk-fest as the chief of CONTROL. He’ll get to crustily boss Anne Hathaway and Sunshine castmate Steve Carell around as they fumble with gadgets and auditory footwear amidst their fight with anti-CONTROL, KAOS.
Terrence "Brother Brigham" Stamp and Dwayne "I can’t shake the The Rock" Johnson have already signed on as well. Cones of Silence and Carell saving the day on accident will try to amuse you in 2008.