Ben Stiller Quietly Planning Next Directing Gig?
Ben Stiller
The Playlist blog is adding details to quiet rumblings of Ben Stiller’s next directorial effort. Originally based on a Production Weekly tweet, Stiller is set to direct Help Me Spread Goodness as soon as this spring. Written by Mark Friedman, the film is “about a Chicago banker who gets swindled in a Nigerian Internet scam.”
The film will be shot in Africa but it is unclear if Stiller will act as well as direct. Though the premise sounds like Fockers-meet-StillerStrong, assuming of course the premise is a comedy, considering Stiller’s recent charity work for Haiti and more serious roles such as this spring’s Greenberg there’s certainly a possibility this is a straight drama.
It’s a comedic drama. It uses the full comedic potential of someone being dumb enough to fall for a scam like this in the first act, to lure the audience (via the main character) into the reality of the people behind the scam in the second act, in which the main character slowly starts to shift focus from trying to get his money back, to actually “helping spread goodness” - it definitely becomes more dramatic, while still keeping the funny moments there. It’s a very clever script, funny and inspirational, and the lead fits Ben Stiller to T. I hope he plays it.
So yeah, Fockers-meet-Stillerstrong is not too far off.