Jim Carrey wants to play with the penguins

After developing an adaptation of MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS with Ben Stiller set to star, GREENBERG director Noah Baumbach left the production this April. Since then Fox has been trying to figure out exactly what to do with the film. Stiller appears to be off the film as well (and on to the similarly themed Cameron Crowe project WE BOUGHT A ZOO) but another comedy A-lister has had talks with the studio about signing on to star.

The LA Times is reporting that Jim Carrey has been in talks with Fox about starring in the film, which director Mark Waters (MEAN GIRLS) is now attached to direct. This would almost certainly be a 180 degree turn from where Baumbach and Stiller were taking the film but in the end I believe a family-friendly blockbuster is precisely what Fox was looking for (and why Baumbach ultimately left).

While Carrey has been talking to Fox about the film, don’t put it up on his IMDB just yet. It’s still early and the studio has also been considering Owen Wilson or Jack Black for the role of the man who suddenly finds himself the owner of a flock of penguins. Carrey seems right for the part but I don’t think I can picture Wilson or Black in the film (the latter especially not).