Ripley back in business, rewrites confirmed

[grinchy steve]

Thanks to my friend Rama (ramascreen.com) I've found this update on Ripley's Believe it or Not :

Wow! This project still exists? Haven’t heard about this one in the longest time. Back in 2007 Tim Burton was attached to direct Jim Carrey in a biopic based on the life the man, the legend behind Ripley’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, columnist Robert Ripley…

Long story short, the project halted and Burton left to do Sweeney Todd and then in 2008, Chris Columbus (Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone, Percy Jackson) was attached to the project. Carrey was still set to star as Ripley. Scripted by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and budgeted at $175 Million, the project was supposed to be ready to go but it halted .. again..

Now, Deadline reported that Paramount is giving it another try by hiring Oscar winning scribe Eric Roth to do a complete rewrite. And guess what.. Carrey is still attached to star as Ripley
I always have faith in Roth, not only because he adapted my favorite film of all time, Forrest Gump, but he’s quite consistent, he scripted The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Munich, The Good Shepherd and the upcoming EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock.

The movie Ripley’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT will be “about Ripley’s search around the world for the most unusual people and places that he immortalized in his newspaper column. The locales were exotic and the sights were unbelievable, …about Ripley’s journey to appreciate that the unusual people were more than just conquests to be cataloged.”

Can’t wait to see who Paramount’s going to hire as the director.. Encountering the unusual and the unbelievable would require a visionary filmmaker with wacky imagination. Too bad Burton’s out of the picture.
Hey, Gondry and Gilliam are still around.

I want -and not kidding at all- Spike Jonze to do this, the reason : His vision on 'Where the Wild Things Are', that was amazing and incredibly strong.

[Happygal]

I just read an article about this myself! I'm so glad it's being picked up again.

[mysticwryter]

I hope this doesn't turn out to be like the 3 stooges. I was acutally wanting to see that, but it didn't happen.

I wonder if Ripley's is up next after Mr. Popper's Peguins.

Probably not since he has so many projects to do anyways, lol.

[chips and dip]

I've gotten my hopes crushed before on this project so I'll believe it or not when they start filming. Good news if it gets off its feet though.

[grinchy steve]

I'm gonna be honest. When 'Ripley' is supposed to be a family movie with a director without a strong and unique vision, I hope 'Damn Yankees' will be next.

[Canadian Jayne]

I'm hoping for "Damn Yankees" too
Don't know why

[Mhjm6]

Always kept faith that this would be brought back into the light!! Jim would never give up on it. However, isn't Chris Columbus still attached?? Last I heard a while ago he was. I'm just satisfied FINALLY re-writes are being done.

[g6471]

Eric Roth is AMAZING!! Huge step up.

Hopefully Columbus is out,

[Mhjm6]

I actually hope Columbus is not out because that means it has a committed director from start to finish as well as great re-writes.

[g6471]

Really? CC's last several films have been subpar with medoicre/neg reviews
Don't you want a director with a better track record?

[grinchy steve]

I'm against Colombus ... the guy has no vision, you can replace him with random names and never notice. He's not a bad director, but he's the kinda guy who bends over for the big ones. It will make 'Ripley' flat and forgettable. 'Percy Jackson' failed big time.

The only chance for 'Ripley' to be a remarkable movie, is when a unique talent is involved. I'm thinking -above all- Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) or Alfonso Cuarón (Azkaban), Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) ... maybe even David Fincher (Benjamin Button) Henry Selick (Coraline) or Brad Bird (Iron Giant, Ratatouille). I'm not that wild about Tim Burton anymore, he's becoming very predictable on every level.

[g6471]

I'm against Colombus ... the guy has no vision, you can replace him with random names and never notice. He's not a bad director, but he's the kinda guy who bends over for the big ones. It will make 'Ripley' flat and forgettable. 'Percy Jackson' failed big time.

ITA, I think the interest on here went way down when CC was announced as the director at that time.

[g6471]

When 'Ripley' is supposed to be a family movie with a director without a strong and unique vision,

Sadly, that was Columbus's vison for it.

[mysticwryter]

Hopefully it turns into a great flick.

I'm kinda in the grey area on this story/movie. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't it's not a huge loss to anyone.

Maybe I'm just fed-up with stories that are willing to be told (i.e. ILYPM) keep on being pushed back and everything. I'm just a little bitter on that fact.

[fluffy]

i've got the feeling that this movie is kinda doomed.......i think it's going to be a major loss maker....just a wee hunch......