Steve Carell might be giving up his position as manager on The Office next year to concentrate on his family and cinema career, but even while still employed at Dunder Mifflin, he’s scraping out some time to fit in film work, such as considering making Burt Wonderstone during a break from his TV schedule next month.
As the LA Times reports, the film is just one of a wide variety of options he has at his disposal. But it does sound like something he’d be good at.
The plot follows a flashy Las Vegas magician who loses his will to perform when he accidentally kills his partner. But he doesn’t have too much time to grieve – he’s got to get back in the game or a rival will end up taking all his glory.
New Line is behind the movie, having nabbed a new draft of the script from John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who have their names all over several recent screenplays, including Horrible Bosses and The $40,000 Man.
There’s no sign of a director for the comedy just yet, but if Carell chooses to make it his next job, you can bet there’ll be plenty of candidates. And while magicians on screen have been a mixed bag recently – Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist is wonderful, whereas the Mitchell & Webb pic Magicians, which shares some distinctly similar plot beats with the new film, was decent if unspectacular – it’s still ripe material for grabbing laughs. And as Arrested Development fans, we realise it would be awfully close to Gob, but surely Will Arnett could be considered for the rival magic performer?