Relativity Media has acquired worldwide rights to the heist comedy Loomis Fargo, which is still set to star Jim Carrey after being announced last fall. Remember him?
From an initial script by Emily Spivey and re-written by Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer, the film is set to be directed by Jared Hess, the man behind Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and Gentleman Broncos.
The synopsis of the film is as follows: a disgruntled bank employee teams up with his work crush to the financial institution they work for. Together with their accomplices, the inexperienced criminals nab nearly $20 million.
It sounds a whole lot like Fun With Dick and Jane, the remake Carrey starred in alongside Tea Leoni a thousand years ago. It felt dated the moment it came out, marking one of Carrey’s last gasps as a reliable leading man.
That he’d return back to this material both does and does not make sense. On one hand, Dick and Jane grossed $100 million and sported the kind of safe, yet genre-hybrid, plot-line studios flock to. One the other, it’s regarded as a flop, so any reminders of a let-down feels less than business savvy.
Simply put, this might just be the easiest thing for Carrey to make these days in a lead capacity. Hopefully his upcoming supporting turns in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Kick-Ass 2 will restore some faith to that once-invincible Carrey brand of comedy.
And that’s without even getting into Mr. Hess, who has been on the long road to the creative middle ever since exploding with Napoleon Dynamite forever ago as well. Can this duo become the new comeback kids?
The film is targeted to start production in North Carolina this April.
Would you still go see a Jim Carrey movie?