Steve Carell to the Big Screen for 'Evan Almighty'

Steve Carell won't have much time to ponder the effect of his hit NBC "The Office" winding its season early -- March 30 -- so he can fulfill his commitment to star in the big screen "Evan Almighty."
 
He'll go from production on his ever-hotter show into "Evan" with "maybe just a day or two in-between," he tells us. Carell will be reprising his obnoxious news anchor character from Jim Carrey's "Bruce Almighty," only this time, he'll be the one receiving divine visitations from Morgan Freeman as God. And God will tell him to build an ark. Even now, forces on the film are busy "building sets and prepping and hiring, and there's actually wood on its way to Virginia to build the ark," reports Carell. "We're talking life-size. It's going to be enormous. They're starting to build a section of it at Universal, on one of the stages. I saw it, and it's frightening how big it's going to be."
 
Carell says he can't wait to meet Freeman. "I just got to work with Alan Arkin, in a movie that premiered at Sundance on Friday. He's my idol," notes Carell, speaking of the "Little Miss Sunshine" comedy that won kudos and a Fox Searchlight distribution deal -- another new feather in the Golden Globe-winner's cap. "And now Morgan Freeman, one of the most iconic actors of a generation! I hope he doesn't feel like he's slumming, doing a movie with me," adds Steve.
 
As far as having enough time to enjoy his current Midas touch effect, Carell says, "It's so surreal right now, and I'm just trying to have fun with it." He admits, "Sometimes you feel like you're at the top of the precipice looking down, saying 'Oh, my God, it's all going to be over!'" However, "I try not to take it too seriously or be too precious about any one moment. It's just all been fun, and the fact I get to work with Tom Shadyac and Morgan Freeman and all the people I work with on 'The Office' -- I get to do this show I'm really proud of. It's hard to wrap my head around how lucky I've been."
 
THE VIDEOLAND VIEW:

One of the trickier aspects of making "Flight 93" -- which is scheduled to air Monday (1/30) on A&E -- had nothing to do with the historic struggle between terrorists and brave passengers who fought back aboard the flight that crashed in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001.
 
"There was an ocean of information about the FAA and the military as they tried to understand what was happening on the plane and to cope with it -- much of which is contradictory," says Nevin Schreiner, who spent months researching the movie produced by esteemed veteran producer David Gerber. "We didn't really engage in the most controversial questions." By that, does he mean the conjecture that the flight was actually shot down? "If you've looked on the Internet, you must know there's a tremendous amount of speculation about it," he responds. "We know planes were sent up that were unarmed, and there were planes in the air that were armed."
 
Schreiner spoke to dozens of people involved in the real-life drama, including witnesses and family members "who were amazingly generous and straightforward in talking about one of the most intimate experiences of their lives." And he learned more details of some of the passengers' stories, including that of Tom Burnett, "a student of the Second World War, who had actually visited Normandy and always wondered how he would have behaved under those kind of extreme circumstances. His wife, Deena, an extraordinary person herself, felt that this was his test and he'd risen to it."
 
DISHING IT UP:

Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette's "Dirt" series project -- a black comedy centering on the female editor of two tabloids -- has been in development since 2004, and is now finally going to pilot for the FX network. Casting is underway for characters that are sure to have viewers playing a "who is that supposed to be?" guessing game -- including a teen queen super starlet whose off-screen persona isn't nearly as pure as her image. Also, the tab denizens, including a smelly paparazzo and the swaggering media mogul owner. Matthew Carnahan is the third exec producer on the Touchstone show, which could wind up quite a spicy one.
 
POWER PLAY:

"Sex and the City" fans will be interested to know that "Lipstick Jungle" -- exec produced and written by "Sex and the City's" Candace Bushnell with Robin Schiff -- is en route to the cameras as a prospective series. Key characters are the driven, dramatic studio president, Wendy; the graceful, intelligent fashion icon editor of a Vanity Fair-type magazine, Nico; and idealistic, driven, fashion designer Victory. The parts are being filled now, with a one-hour pilot soon to shoot for NBC-Universal.

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)

The Beck/Smith syndicated newspaper column includes exclusive in-depth, behind-the-scenes reports on the stars, on the business of television and movie-making, and on the recording, publishing and media beats.

©2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc.