There’s a tough lesson that seemingly everyone in Hollywood learns at one point or another: even if you are one of the more “bankable” stars, particularly in a certain genre, having a film set up via your production company is no guarantee that the studio where that company is based won’t end up pulling the lever that sends the film spiralling down into the turnaround zone. That’s happened with an untitled comedy that Steve Carell was producing and considering starring in, but now Universal has stepped into to grab the rights to the project that Warner Bros. let slip.
Phil Alden Robinson, who last made The Sum of All Fears back in 2002, is on scripting duty for the film, which is still seemingly wrapped in a cloak of secrecy. Variety could only divine that it’s styled as a crossbreed of Stakeout and My Best Friend’s Wedding. And given that it features the FBI, we figure it’ll be some wacky blend of action comedy and rom com that finds the bureau hatching a sting scheme under the guise of a marriage ceremony.
We doubt Carell is in too much of a rush for Universal to get the film on its feet, though – he’s got plenty of other potential projects eagerly jockeying for his time, including magician comedy Burt Wonderstone, darkly comic drama Dogs of Babel and various other gigs including the upcoming Great Hope Springs.
He’ll next crop up on screens in romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love., which is out on September 23.