Director Jared Hess, best known for the off-beat comedy NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, has signed on to direct THE PET, a family comedy that Disney has been developing since 2007.
THE PET follows “a man who’s abducted by aliens, taken to their planet, and turned into a family pet.”
The project is based on an original idea by Matt Lieberman, who is also writing the SHORT CIRCUIT remake. The current draft of the script is by Tim Dowling (THE MEANS WAR). Hess has traditionally written his own material, including his follow-up films to NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, which include NACHO LIBRE and GENTLEMEN BRONCOS.
Currently, Hess is working on the NAPOLEON DYNAMITE animated series on FOX. It seemed that he would be a talent to reckon with after the success of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, but his previous two films failed to connect with audiences. Perhaps his off-kilter style is a bit too much for conventional audiences.
Personally, I like the oddball humor that Hess brings to the table and it’s quite possible that he could lend a unique take on what seems like a typical high-concept Disney comedy. Or, it could be a complete and utter train wreck.
More as this develops.
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