Kevin James in for "The Zookeeper"
February 13, 2009 by Jane Boursaw
Kevin James is so great with the physical comedy, and it looks like he’ll be continuing that theme in “The Zookeeper,” a new film from MGM.
Loved James in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” and he’s reteaming with Happy Madison producers for this romantic comedy.
“The Zookeeper” follows the adventures of a lonely zookeeper who’s having trouble meeting a girl. So he decides to leave his job, but the animals intervene. Variety is carrying the story today, but it doesn’t say what the format will be. I’m guessing maybe live-action combined with CG special effects for the animals.
Producer Todd Garner said that James was always his first choice for the role, because of his skills with physical comedy. Shooting will likely start this summer on the east coast.
James also just signed for another Happy Madison movie – a high school reunion comedy co-starring Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, and David Spade. Wonder what THAT movie set will be like!
Image: Columbia Pictures, 2009
Hey Jane! The Zookeeper will be filmed here in Boston and at the Franklin Park Zoo, so we hear. It seems that there are quite a few movies being filmed in Massachusetts these days. Very cool!
Betsy – So cool! I’m so delighted to have a Film Gecko “field reporter” in an area where so many movies are being made!
Readers: Check out Betsy’s awesome blog at http://www.betsysview.com/
They were filming at Crane Beach today (9/28). I’ve never seen so much gear and large set. They took up half the parking lot with 10+ semis, trailers, big tent, fitness trailer, 2 buses. There was a big set on the beach with a big crew, huge crane (for shade), one horse and a mariachi band. I was told they were there for about 18 hours. I now understand why big movies cost big bucks. An independent could’ve knocked that out in an hour with one camera.