NEWS
Dial "C" for Murder?
08 Jun 2000 by BCDavis & M.T. Moura
For weeks Carreyholics had been following a number of projects that Jim Carrey's name had been attached to. The list of projects included: "The God of Cookery"; the remake of "Harvey"; "Henry's List of Wrongs"; a Hugh Hefner biography; "Kind Hearts and Coronets"; "The Scared Guys"; "Spyville"; "Stuck on You"; "Survivor"; "Take Me to Your Leader"; and "The Undertakers".
As these rumored projects started to overflow, Jim Carrey Online decided to contact with Carrey's publicist, and was told that he was not involved in any of the projects in any way.
Did that put the future projects scale to zero? It sure didn't, as a new project has just been reported by Variety. According to the newspaper, Jim Carrey is in talks to star in "Phone Booth" a story about a man who picks up a ringing phone and is told by a serial killer with a sniper rifle that he'll be shot if he hangs up. This is a Joel Schumacher ("Batman Forever") pet project and, still according to Variety, Jim Carrey was on the director's wish list since Schumacher was drafted by Fox 2000. Apparently, Jim Carrey made the decision after a short vacation and already notified both the studio and director that he is interested in taking the lead part.
It's a known fact that Jim Carrey likes to take chances, being this one of the reasons that sets him apart from other A-list actors, but the specs on this story makes one wonder how it's going to translate to the screen. It takes place totally at a phone booth on a busy Manhattan street and the lead character is on screen every single minute of the movie. It sounds like a plot that could work out on stage but not that easy to pull off on cinema.
There are, however, some additional details that will undoubtedly make this project very interesting to follow, namely Fox 2000's plan of using Internet technology by streaming footage of the rehearsal and shooting process, to show fans how the movie gets made.
The picture is set to begin principal photography this summer in New York, and the entire shoot is expected to be completed within a couple of weeks. In order to accomplish this schedule, Schumacher will do an extensive amount of previous rehearsing. The director plans to stick to an ultra-low budget and Jim Carrey is said to have agreed to take a pay cut from his usual $20 million quote.
The project was purchased as a spec by Larry Cohen two years ago, and is being produced by Gil Netter and Jerry and David Zucker. Writer-director Brian Helgeland ("L.A. Confidential") is polishing up the screenplay.
-- With a big Spank You to Anonymous, s.a._jcfan, Robin Maughan, Chris Vanespen, SNL525, Brian and Wiploc at Carrey.com for the info.
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