The Secret Life of Sam Goldwyn Jr.

Mike Myers, who hasn't appeared in a live-action movie since the abysmal "The Cat in the Hat'' four years ago, is the latest star to be "attached" to the long-aborning remake of James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.'' That means a brand-new script is being written for the approval of Myers (and 20th Century Fox) by TV scribe Jay Koven ("The Simpsons,'' "The Class"). If they both decide to proceed, Myers will weigh in on whether he wants do it before a couple of other scripts that are being rewritten for him to possibly star in, as well as a new Austin Powers flick he is talking about. "Mitty,'' which is about what was then referred to as a milquetoast who daydreams about wild adventures, was first filmed with mixed results in 1947 starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. That film was produced by the legendary Sam Goldwyn, who had both stars under contract and didn't have to worry about such things as talent having script approval and made movies with money he borrowed from the bank. Goldwyn's son Samuel Goldwyn Jr., who has to negotiate a very different industry, has been strugglng to get a remake off the ground for at least a decade. For a very long time, Jim Carrey was attached, but nobody could come up with a script that pleased him or the directors who have flirted with the flick, including Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. More recently, Junior and his son and co-producer John Goldwyn unsuccessfully tried to get it rolling at Paramount, with Owen Wilson starring and Mark Waters directing.

Posted by Lou Lumenick on May 23, 2007 09:48 AM