Paramount Pictures still hasn’t named the new independent speciality division it set up several months ago. Which, if you ask us, is just plain lazy. But at least that hasn’t stopped the team picking up film projects.
The latest is a comedy pitch based on a short called American Storage. Never heard of it? Join the club. But here’s a clue as to why the pitch was nabbed: the short stars Steve Carrell. And will be co-written and directed by co-creator Andrew Cohen, who served as an associate producer on The 40-Year-Old Virgin and the upcoming Will Ferrell racing pic Talladega Nights. Now there’s a decent comedy pedigree for you…
Cohen is working on a script based on Storage’s basic idea with Brendan O’Brien, who co-wrote the short. The plot sees a man trying to save a storage facility from bankruptcy by offering units as low-rent apartments over the Internet.
"These guys made a hilarious short, and they came to us with a lot of very smart ideas about how to develop it into a feature," division chief John Lesher gushed to Variety. There's no word yet on whether Carrell will star in the film – it would have to wait in line behind several projects, including the currently shooting Evan Almighty.