'Virgin' star sticking to U
Carell will write his own comic vehicle
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The studio has made a deal with Carell to write his own comic vehicle, which is untitled and based on his original idea. They've also bought the Mark Gunn and Brian Gunn pitch "Juvenile."
Both projects will be produced by Mary Parent and Scott Stuber, along with Carell.
Deals come as Carell prepares to star for director Tom Shadyac in U's "Evan Almighty," a spinoff of the studio's hit "Bruce Almighty."
Carell, who co-wrote "Virgin" with director Judd Apatow, will begin writing the script based on his own idea shortly. He brought both the new projects to Parent and Stuber, with whom he worked closely on "Virgin" before they left the Universal exec suites to become U-based producers.
Parent and Stuber get their shingle started with the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed "You, Me and Dupree" and an untitled pic to be directed by David O. Russell with Vince Vaughn starring.
The Gunns, who are cousins, pitched "Juvenile" directly to Carell and his manager, Steve Sauer, who then took it to U.
"The idea is for Steve to play the most Caucasian man in America, who's sent to juvenile prison for a petty crime he committed as a kid," Mark Gunn said. "Suddenly this suburban drip is surrounded by 11-year-old bad-asses."
Universal prexy of production Donna Langley and senior veep Holly Bario will oversee both Carell comedies.
The Gunns, who last worked for U on "Bring It on Again," are in the middle of writing "Mighty Mouse," a CGI feature about the venerable super rodent for Nickelodeon and Paramount.
