Fox May Like Sacha Baron Cohen for 'Walter Mitty'

Once upon a time, Jim Carrey was supposed to star in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. That didn't last and it was supposed to be Owen Wilson starring for Spielberg. Couldn't work out. Then Mike Myers was the man who would be Mitty for a few years, during which time, stacks of scripts were written for it. And yet, nothing. So what to do with Walter Mitty? Well, the last time it was on screen was in the late 1940s, and Pajiba reports that it may finally have a star again. Sacha Baron Cohen is the top pick to play the role, and that's probably a smart choice, if you can't get Johnny Depp, that is. Fox has the project now, the fourth studio in about fifteen years to try making this movie, and it no longer wants the increasingly unfunny Mike Myers. 20th has brought in Peter Morgan to work on yet another version of the script, which originally comes from a James Thurber story. I'm a huge Peter Morgan fan, but this isn't exactly the sort of thing I think about from him. That definitely points to the film being less an out-and-out comedy and maybe closer to a Stranger Than Fiction. Of the story, Pajiba writes:

"The updated version has Walter Mitty as a timid mega-store owner — rather than a pulp fiction writer — who daydreams of being a swashbuckling hero. When his reputation is put to the test, Walter must prove his ability to save the day."