If former Guardian columnist-turned-memoir-writer Benjamin Mee ever fancied looking a bit like Matt Damon, he might just get a chance to see that dream come true on the big screen, asthe Bourne franchise star is considering the lead in Cameron Crowe’s version of Mee’s book We Bought a Zoo{
While several sites in the US jumped on the news and splashed exclusive, The Playlist points out that Production Weekly’s paper version actually called Damon’s interest a while ago.
But such a flurry of coverage means that he’s definitely in solid talks to take on the role, even though he could still move on to something else. Yet we think he’d be a good collaborator for Crowe, and you know he’d bring his all to the project.
We Bought a Zoo chronicles Mee and his family’s idea to plunge their life savings into nabbing the defunct Dartmoor Zoological Park to refurbish the house on the property and save many of the animals. The mission was haunted by tragedy as Mee’s wife learned she had terminal cancer.
Aline Brosh McKenna was behind the script’s first draft, though Crowe has since re-written it, with Fox setting it for release in December next year.