Production Weekly is reporting that Jack Black has signed on to star in, Tropic Thunder, to be directed by Ben Stiller. While the idea of these two men teaming up seems intriguing (Stiller will also be acting), it's happened before, lest we forget.
To everyone's credit, the concept of Tropic Thunder seems pretty solid, if not chuckle-worthy: while filming an action movie, things go horribly wrong and the actors are forced to become the commandos they are playing (although can they possibly defend themselves when firing blanks?). Throwing Robert Downy Junior into the mix playing a 4-time Oscar winner can't hurt either.
And while I'd still like to get excited, given the actors alone, if we take Ben Stiller as an example, it's obvious that some material works really well for his comedic abilities, whereas other material...well, doesn't.
The problem for me at this point is that I'm having trouble getting a feel for this movie. Stiller has directed, for example, Zoolander and The Cable Guy. Two funny movies. Two totally different styles. In looking at the credited writers, Etan Cohen wrote and directed a movie called My Wife is Retarded (I had to make that bold because it's not like I could italicize it more for emphasis), and according to IMDB, the second writer, actor Justin Theroux, has Tropic Thunder listed as his only writing credit.
Not that any of this really matters at this point, given that the film isn't set to be released until July of 2008, but suffice it to say, we'll be tracking it here at League HQ.
FYI, Production Weekly is a great site loaded with breaking news in the industry (of the good variety. This, not so much.) You can also subscribe to a weekly production breakdown service, but at a price . Regardless, it's worth bookmarking.
Write on...
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