Jack Nicholson had better start clearing space on his mantelpiece for another Oscar.
At least, that’s if his history with James L. Brooks is anything to go by. The legendary actor and the writer-director have worked together three times. One was a cameo in Broadcast News. The other two were on Terms Of Endearment and As Good As It Gets – both times Nicholson won Oscars.
So you can excuse Jack for clearing some more room, now that he’s agreed to work with Brooks again, as a very late replacement for Bill Murray in the director’s as-yet untitled Paul Rudd/Reese Witherspoon/Owen Wilson romantic comedy.
Murray had been in talks for a long time about playing the father of Rudd’s character, who’s a white-collar executive vying with Wilson’s baseball pitcher for Witherspoon’s affections.
But, with just two weeks to go before filming, Murray still hadn’t closed a deal and had become, as Variety puts it, ‘unresponsive’. (Apparently, Murray is incredibly hard to get hold of; Sofia Coppola famously wasn’t convinced that she had bagged Murray for** Lost In Translation **until he turned up in Japan)
So Brooks turned to his old pal Nicholson, and all is well with the world again. Although the role seems like a Broadcast News-style extended cameo, don’t be surprised if Jack ends up in the running for a Best Supporting Actor gong.
Columbia Pictures is signing the cheques on this one.