Jim Carrey to Be 'Funny, Poignant'

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/01/2001 at 10:00 AM EST

It's a long leap from "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." Jim Carrey's next movie is "The Majestic," set during the 1950's Hollywood blacklist period and due to open in December. But now, reports Variety, the often-manic comic actor is ready to roll in another comedy, this one -- as yet, untitled -- from Gary Ross, the writer-director of "Pleasantville." Shooting will begin in March, for a Christmas 2002 release. Carrey will play a widower whose wife returns to haunt him -- and to confront the "ghosts" of their relationship -- when he falls for a much younger woman, says the trade paper. "It's a rich, lush romantic comedy about renewal and rebirth, and setting it in New York and getting to shoot it there was important to us, for obvious reasons," said Ross. "I don't usually write projects for specific actors, but now that we've gotten close with Jim, I can honestly say I couldn't imagine anybody else for the part. He's as brilliant a comedian as he is a gifted actor. This comedy is tonally similar to other films I've written, and the hope is to be both funny and poignant." Ross's 1998 "Pleasantville" took aim at '50s "Ozzie and Harriet" characters and their existences by threatening their black-and-white lives with color.