Nordling here.
A few years ago, RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT was going to enter production with Jim Carrey starring and Tim Burton directing. I asked Tim Burton about it and he seemed excited by the idea. But the project never moved forward, and Burton went on to SWEENEY TODD. As so many of these films tend to do, it went into turnaround and nothing much was heard since then. At one point Chris Columbus was attached to it as well but it did not come to fruition.
Well, according to Deadline, looks like the film is back on again, but without Burton or Cloumbus at the helm. Eric Roth has been hired to do the rewrite, overhauling the adventure script, with Jim Carrey still involved.
I read the original script, which actually seemed like a lot of fun - very RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARKesque - so I'm curious what Roth will do with the material. Robert Ripley's life was interesting and amazing, definitely enough to warrant a film about him, and the original script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (ED WOOD) worked well enough on the page. Since they're no longer involved with the project and Roth is now writing it, we'll see what happens next.
They have not announced a director as of yet. Here's hoping they get someone who has the visual punch to go with the compelling story.
Nordling, out.
