With ‘Limpet’ remake, Richard Linklater could take a new plunge
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EXCLUSIVE: Independent filmmaker Richard Linklater last tried his hand at a big-studio movie when he tackled the Billy Bob Thornton edition of ‘The Bad News Bears’ in 2005.
Now he could be returning to the Hollywood game, and this time with a different kind of reboot: The director is the top candidate to come aboard the new version of the underwater adventure-comedy ‘The Incredible Mr. Limpet,’ according to two people who were briefed on the project but were not authorized to speak publicly about it. [UPDATE, 6:22 PM: One of the sources said studio Warner Bros. is set to make it official and hire Linklater.]
The original ‘Limpet,’ from 1964, starred Don Knotts as an everyman who is transformed into a fish and goes on to fight Nazis. The new edition has been, um, kicking around Warner Bros. for a few years. (‘Enchanted’ director Kevin Lima was initially hired in the summer of 2009 but later fell off the project.) At one point last year, Zach Galifianakis was in talks for the lead part.
Linklater has met several times with Warner Bros. executives to discuss his vision for the film and is the top choice to take the reins, though no deal has been struck yet.
Warner Bros. declined to comment on any director hiring.
Linklater is best regarded for more human-centric movies such as ‘Slacker’ and ‘Before Sunrise.’ The new ‘Limpet’ is expected to be an animated/live-action hybrid, as the original was, but Linklater, the helmer behind animation experiments like ‘Waking Life’ and ‘A Scanner Darkly,’ has experience with the form.
The new version of ‘Limpet’ is expected to get a modern update that moves the story beyond its WWII roots.
--Steven Zeitchik
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