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The next step will be the addition of stars in cameo roles aping David Niven's original flick. And since the film is being directed by Frank Coraci, who helmed Adam Sandler 's hit comedies 'The Wedding Singer' and 'The Waterboy', suspicion is that Sandler might be among them.
'We are doing a lot of date-juggling because it isn't easy to get people to put in a day or two when you're shooting in such places as Thailand and Berlin', said Cary Granat, whose Walden Media banner is developing the project.
But Granat was excited to find a mate for Chan in Coogan. 'Steve (Coogan) is a lot like Peter Sellers -- a great physical comic who is one of the most inventive comedians I've seen in years', he said. 'He and Jackie make a great team, and Jim Broadbent makes a great counter'.
Based on the novel by Jules Verne, '80 Days' begins with Passepartout (Chan), an adventurer, trying to make it to China to restore a sacred object stolen from his village. He's joined by Phileas Fogg (Coogan), who puts his rep as an inventor on the line to provide the transport. Bent on stopping them is Lord Kelvin (Broadbent), head of the Royal Academy of Science, who'll lose his fortune if the duo circles the globe in that 80-day period.
Shooting starts March 15, and the filmmakers hope to cover more single locations than any other picture. Though Paramount was once expected to be the domestic partner on '80 Days', Granat said that Walden Media is currently going it alone. He expects to land a distributor interested in what he predicted will be a major family film.
'We believe in Frank Coraci's vision for a film that will be a lot like 'Willy Wonka' -- colorful, fun and adventurous', Granat said.
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