While Jon Favreau tends to be known more for his directing than his acting these days, he does carve time out of his busy schedule waving megaphones to take the odd role here and there. Particularly if it means he gets to work with friends. Favreau is now set to join the cast of Seth Gordon’s latest comedy Identity Thief, which already features Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.
**Identity Thief **finds Bateman as a happily married man with a loving wife (Amanda Peet) and two adorable moppets (We Bought A Zoo’s Maggie Elizabeth Jones and real-life acting sibling Mary-Charles Jones) who discovers that a clever criminal has swiped his identity. But when he confronts the perpetrator (McCarthy), he instead finds more of a wake-up call than justice. Favreau will be Bateman’s boss, at least according to Variety.
The film will see Favreau reunited with Gordon, who directed him on Four Christmase****s, and with a cast that also includes Clark Duke and John Cho.
Favreau has a role in Alex Kurtzman’s People Like Us, and has been busy directing the pilot for high-concept TV drama Revolution, which takes place in a world where all forms of energy suddenly cease to exist. It’ll go into contention for a slot for release on the NBC network this autumn, but given that it features the backing of Favreau, JJ Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, we figure it has a good shot.