The only thing worse than a potentially interesting film
getting shelved is a potentially interesting film getting shelved and then
brought back to life with Steve Oedekerk signed to write it.
Tim Burton’s take on the life and adventures of Ripley, of
Ripleys Believe It Or Not! (also the name of the movie) fame, was a film that held promise.
doing a wacky, freak-filled adventure movie could be interesting – maybe even a
lot of fun. But soon budget woes killed the project, making it the second film
starring Jim Carrey to be mortally wounded by its own cost (the other was Used Men, a sci-fi comedy to also star Ben Stiller).
Now Oedekerk, one of the least funny funny guys working in
is on board, and he’s got an agenda – up the spectacle and expand the focus to
include more freaks that Ripley discovers. Upping the spectacle shouldn’t be
that hard for the guy who wrote Evan Almighty, the most expensive comedy in the
history of human life. Hopefully he’ll bring some of the hilarity from
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals and an endless stream of shitty
thumb-oriented parody films to this, ensuring that Planet of the Apes will be
known as Tim Burton’s second worst film.
Oedekerk is Carrey’s guy, and they’ve been working together since In Living Color. Used Men wasn’t Carrey’s only other picture to hit the shitter – A Little Game fell apart when everybody got mad about the script. Add to that how Fun With Dick and Jane underperformed last year and the fact that Carrey fired his agent after seeing his next film, Number 23, and you can imagine that the ass-talking actor brought in Oedekerk as a way to stave off more failure. He’s rubbing the guy’s belly, hoping to get that Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty magic back. Which can’t bode well for this movie, as they both stunk.
Shooting is now supposed to start in
in 2008 (total freaks, those Chinamen) with a 2009 release date.