The Little Miss Sunshine filmmaking pair of Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton might have taken the VW westfalia route in boarding their next project. Not that they have been especially slow to react – I’ve seen directors blast onto the scene and wait too long to release their follow-up. Faris and Dayton were handed the book-to-screen adaption of Tom Perrotta‘s The Abstinence Teacher with Bona Fide Productions backing the project, but the demise of WIP might have put production on hold. Speaking of productions that were on hold, it looks like the cobwebs have been dusted from studio pic Used Guys. Faris and Dayton will board the project which still includes Ben Stiller. Variety reports that the female lead may go to Resse Witherspoon, but then again, her name gets throw onto all projects in development. She replaces the original mention of Emily Mortimer.
Originally written by David Guion and Michael Handelman from Mickey Birnbaum‘s script, Used Guys will receive a brush up – perhaps taking out elements that will bring production costs down. 20th Century Fox pulled the plug when the thing got too damn expensive and helmer Jay Roach was let go.
The original template was set in a near-future L.A. in which women buy and trade men like used cars. Men killed themselves off by ingesting some kind of enhancement drink. Women now get cloned companions, and the two leads are rendered obsolete by a new clone line that promises to be sexier, better listeners and superior lovers.
