With his first solo vehicle, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, about to pass the hundred million dollar mark this weekend, Kevin James has wasted no time in lining up his next vehicle. He’s signed a deal to star The Zookeeper, another comedy from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company.
The film, which will be directed by Frank Coraci, one of Sandler’s coterie of trusted directors. Coraci hasn’t directed since 2006’s Click, but he will be calling the shots on this high-concept comedy, in which James will play a – yes! – zookeeper who quits his job because he can’t meet a girlfriend. Until, that is, his beloved animals intervene in his love life…
Hmm… we smell talking animals. Or, at the very least, CG animals. And that’s almost never a good sign. Mind you, we like James a lot – even when he’s in a clunker, like I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, he’s an immensely likeable presence. But, given the danger that he might play second fiddle to a bunch of cute critters, this seems like a strange choice with which to reinforce his new stardom.
However, The Zookeeper is a priority project for MGM, and has been since they paid an astonishing $2 million for the spec script, by Jay Scherick and David Ronn, last April. Clearly, they expect big things, and James just might be the right guy in the right place at the right time.
Todd Garner, who came up with the idea, will produce along with James and Jeff Sussman. Filming will start this summer, on the East Coast, which means that The Zookeeper may well beat the other Happy Madison comedy to which James signed on this week, the untitled Sandler/Chris Rock/David Spade/Rob Schneider high school reunion comedy, into production.
And surely it can't be too long before a **Paul Blart **sequel is announced. So, readers, what do you think - is James the real deal? Is The Zookeeper a goer? Thoughts, as ever, below...