Almost eighteen months since Jim Carrey dropped out of the lead role in LOOMIS FARGO, Jared Hess is finally making some progress on his heist comedy. In addition to Zach Galafianakis replacing Carrey, we also had Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig join the movie. Today comes word that Jason Sudeikis will join the project which will be getting a new title as well.
Jason Sudeikis is best known for his tenure on Saturday Night Live as well as big screen outings in HALL PASS (with Owen Wilson), HORRIBLE BOSSES, and WE’RE THE MILLERS. In the soon to be retitled LOOMIS FARGO, Sudeikis will play a hitman.
Inspired by true events that occurred in 1997, the story follows a disgruntled armored car driver (Galifianakis) who teams up with a pretty co-worker and a group of inexperienced criminals to steal nearly $20 million from a bank vault. The thieves leave a glaring trail of evidence in their wake as they go on excessive spending sprees and buy mansions, sports cars and boats. To make matters worse, the driver’s accomplices double-cross him and leave him alone on the run in Mexico while they live the good life off the loot back in the States. Now the only thing tougher than pulling off the heist will be turning the tables on those who betrayed him.
Director Jared Hess is responsible for helming NAPOLEON DYNAMITE and NACHO LIBRE. It remains to be seen what type of comedy LOOMIS FARGO will be. From the sounds of it, there is a lot of potential for a very dark brand of humor here, but it could also end up a generic movie along the lines of Brett Ratner‘s TOWER HEIST. The cast is a very likeable and talented bunch, so I am hoping for more than just another generic flick. The articles about the film are all calling this a drama, so you never know.