When Empire chatted with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd around the time of Dinner for Schmucks, Carell was adamant that the primary reason he was leaving The Office was to spend more time with his family. Well, on the basis of how many film projects he has lined up, we hope wife Nancy can win a few supporting parts and the kids can learn to be gaffers quickly, else they’ll never see him. And now he’s added yet one more, in the shape of Dan Fogelman’s Imagine.
Variety confirms what Vulture originally reported: Carell has signed on to star in a comedy drama about a old rocker who discovers that he has a son he’s never met. So he goes in search of the lad – now a man, played by Carell – to reconnect and get his life back on track. And the reason for the movie’s title? John Lennon wrote a letter to the rocker years ago.
Fogelman, who is making his directorial debut with the film, has written on the likes of Cars, Fred Claus, Bolt and the upcoming Tangled, and Imagine won’t be his first collaboration with Carell since he also provided the script for one of the actor’s recent jobs, Crazy. Stupid. Love, which sees him trying to reconnect with his kids. Hhhm… We’re sensing a running theme here, even if Carell’s on the other end this time.
Warner Bros. has picked up the project, which Carell is producing via his own company. There’s no mention of when it’ll get started yet.