Paramount's RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT Film going back into Production with Eric Roth

Back in 2007 Paramount Picture's was all ready to go on a Ripley's Believe it or Not film production based on newspaper columnist Robert Ripley's life. Tim Burton was set to direct the film and Jim Carrey was going to play Ripley, but at the last minute the whole production fell apart and Paramount pulled the plug. In 2008 directors Chris Columbus and  Master and Commander scribe John Collee tried to get the project off the ground as well, but nothing happened with it. 

The studio has plugged the film project back in. Oscar-winning scribe Eric Roth (Fottest Gump, The Insider, Munich) has been hired to do a complete overhaul on the script, and Jim Carrey is still attached to star in the film, which is kind of strange because it was his fault the film stalled in the first place. He came up with some of his own ideas for the movie that required a complete overhaul, and that led the production down the road to production hell. 

The film is about Ripley's search around the world for the most unusual people and places that he immortalized in his newspaper column. The locales were exotic and the sights were unbelievable, but the film is about Ripley's journey to appreciate that the unusual people were more than just conquests to be cataloged.

I've been waiting for this movie to get made since I first heard about it. I grew on that Ripley's Believe it or Not stuff and I'm fascinated by it. Robert Ripley led an interesting life, and I think it would make for a great film. With Roth on board to write it, there's no doubt in my mind that the script and story is going to be excellent. I'd rather not see Carrey play the character, but I can live with it.