There was a time, back around 1996, when it appeared that Danny DeVito had permanently transitioned to the director’s chair. Though he had made his bones as an actor, appearing in classics like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and a number of hit television shows, DeVito enjoyed a run of successes as a filmmaker. But after 2003’s Duplex, he stopped. We’re not sure why … yet we are excited that he seems to be edging back towards it.
DeVito is in post-production on the thriller St. Sebastian, with William Fichtner and Lance Reddick. The film’s due out in 2013. After that, though, Variety reports that he’s “expected to film” the indie comedy Honeymoon with Dad, based on a script by Scott Atkinson and Tegan West. The story follows a CPA who is abandoned at the altar by his cold-footed bride. Instead of letting his honeymoon go to waste, he takes his vacation with his larger-than-life father. That sounds like a role DeVito was born to play.
The trade says that there is no start date on Honeymoon, though the production will work around DeVito’s hiatus on the hit sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In fact, DeVito should just hand the younger man’s role to Charlie Day, thereby guaranteeing the Sunny audience.
While we know very little about Honeymoon beyond the logline, DeVito always was attracted to darker comedy (rent Death to Smoochy, if you haven’t yet seen it). If he saw something in this screenplay that tickled his fancy, you can bet it was a demented sense of humor that spoke to his storytelling instincts. Either way, I’m glad he’s getting back behind the camera for new movies. We’ll see what develops.
