
‘Once’ Helmer John Carney to Direct Steve Carell in ‘Dogs of Babel’
Posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 by Angie Han
Steve Carell has been slowly transitioning toward more dramatic roles ever since he quit The Office to focus on his rising film career, but some of his choices have sounded a bit questionable, at least on paper. One of the stranger ones he’s been attached to is the lead in The Dogs of Babel, an adaptation of Carolyn Parkhurst‘s debut novel.
The premise of the story — a grieving man tries to teach his dog to speak — is so aggressively quirky that it’s easy to see how the film could veer away from heartfelt toward silly or schmaltzy. So it’s something of a relief to hear that Mandate Pictures has tapped a guy who may actually be able to pull off that tough balancing act: Once director John Carney. More details after the jump.