It’s been six years since Danny DeVito clambered into the big chair with ‘director’ stamped on the back – six long years since Death To Smoochy, the disastrously-received but actually pretty-damn-funny Ed Norton/Robin Williams comedy that tanked at the box office.
But now the little big man is back back back.
He’s signed on to direct a cracking cast – Morgan Freeman, Pierce Brosnan, Saoirse Ronan – in an adaptation of the best-selling book, The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle.
While it may sounds like a lurid Robin Askwith carpet-burning comedy, it’s actually an adventure for young adults (steady, Askwith) about a young girl who makes a daring transatlantic crossing from England to America in 1830, only to find herself torn between a mutinous crew and a tyrannical captain.
Ronan – so impressive, and Oscar-nominated, in Atonement – will play the title character. We’re not sure if Brosnan or Freeman will play the captain, but all will be revealed in time.
DeVito won’t be appearing in the film, which starts lensing in September. But he’ll hope that this movie is as successful as Matilda, his last foray into kids’ movies.
Our very own HandMade Films, Plaza Property International, DeVito’s Jersey Films, Brosnan’s Irish Dreamtime and Revelations Entertainment will all be having their logos shown before the movie begins.