While he's hardly a favorite of mine, Ben Stiller has tried to branch out a little bit in his acting career with Noah Baumbach's grouchy dramedy, Greenberg. But as a director, Stiller has remained comfortably in his comedy wheelhouse, with his last effort being 2008's Tropic Thunder. He seems to making strides to try new things behind the camera as well, though, recently being named the frontrunner to star and direct in a remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and now he's lined something up which on the surface sounds as crazy as the idea of Kevin Smith doing a horror film. Well, that didn't turn out so bad...
20th Century Fox have picked up The Mountain, a spec script by Helen Childress, who last worked with Stiller as writer of Reality Bites. The film is a period piece horror film in the Rosemary's Baby style, and based on characters from Edith Wharton's 1917 novel, Summer. The story would center on Charity Royall, a poor girl from a rural community who experiences a sexual awakening after being moved to a larger New England town when her father is convicted of manslaughter. There's some supernatural stuff involved, too, involving trinkets that force Charity to see her own past and confront her destiny. And they wanted Ben Stiller for this? Really? As a director and not just to cater or something?
Right now Stiller is filming the ensemble comedy, Neighborhood Watch, and he's still got a couple of other things cooking, including a possible David O. Selznick biopic. So it may be awhile before this gets off the ground. Stiller will be seen next in theaters in Tower Heist, opening November 4th. [Deadline]
