Blimey, Steve Carell’s not waiting around to fill his freshly available shooting time now he’s about to be free of The Office. Just a couple of days ago, we brought word that he was negotiating to join the cast of David Frankel’s comedy Great Hope Springs,which would see him acting alongside Meryl Streep. Now The Hollywood Reporter has news that Carell is looking to get a little more serious, and is attached to Mandate Pictures’ Dogs of Babel.
The script is based on Carolyn Parkhurst’s 2003 novel about a linguistics professor (Carell, assuming he stays attached) who arrives home one day to find his wife dead in the backyard. Though the police rule her death an accident, the prof is not so sure, and since the only witness to the death was the couple’s dog, he attempts to teach it to speak so he can discover the truth. Despite the seemingly comedic flavour of that last bit, it’s really not a laugh-a-minute tale.
Looks like this one will be a little further down the line as it doesn’t have a director yet. It’s not for want of trying though: Todd Phillips was set to direct when Focus Features had the film and Boy A’s John Crowley had thrown his name into the ring when Mandate snapped up the rights. Harry Potter producer David Heyman will be working with Carell on locking someone down as soon as they can.