Charlie Kaufman’s Frank or Francis is not happening, according to Elizabeth Banks

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

They say celebrities die in threes, so does that mean movie projects collapse in pairs?

Just a week after DUMB & DUMBER TO falls apart, Charlie Kaufman’s star-studded musical is no more, In a recent interview, Elizabeth Banks said everything happened at the last minute.

“We didn’t get to shoot that movie,” said Banks. “It was ready to go, and, as many movies do, it fell apart at the last minute.”

The film was set to star Steve Carell, Jack Black, Nicolas Cage and Kevin Kline. The plot was said to be a satire of Hollywood and internet movie websites like the one you are on right now.

Here is a plot summary courtesy of Vulture: Steve Carell will play former screenwriter Frank Arder, who’s segued into acting and directing with his new movie You, which has been nominated for a ridiculously record-breaking 29 Oscars. Arder’s nemesis is Francis Deems, an entertainment blog commenter. He’ll be played by Jack Black. Nicolas Cage is set to play Alan Modell, a comedian on the wane who’s hosting the Oscars. Modell’s famous credit? A wildly popular movie franchise called Fat Dad, which sounds like the sort of fake credit you might find in Tracy Jordan’s 30 Rock filmography. Kevin Kline was to play the brother of Jonathan Waller, a director whose Oscar-bait movie Hiroshima failed to win Best Picture. Despondent, Waller and his brother (which Kline will also play) create a computer program meant to analyze all previous Oscar winners and spit out the most awards-friendly script imaginable. The result is a perfectly calibrated screenplay named God. Frank or Francis is a musical, with nearly half the dialogue sung: In particular, anything the characters are writing online will be delivered in sing-song. Oh, and did we mention that there are also two talking thumbs conspiring on behalf of a Romanian political agenda?

That would have been awesome to see. But, when dealing with a subject matter that mocks the very Internets that Hollywood depends on these days to promote their films, maybe the producers got a little worried and backed out. Hopefully Kaufman can get back on the horse soon as it has been far too long since his characters have graced movie theaters.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Elizabeth Banks to lessen the blow.