Ben Stiller (Greenberg) is about to reintroduce the world to James Thurber’s 1939 short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, with the upcoming feel good fantastical drama film of the same name. While this will be the second cinematic adaptation of the story, the original release was back in 1947 starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, it’ll be interesting to see how Stiller can build on the concept with modern day cinematic production capabilities.
Set for a release date of the 26th December 2013 and with a lot of references to Christmas for the release in the trailer below it’s clear that Samuel Goldwyn Films and 20th Century Fox are going for a winter break fantasy extravaganza. As well as being directed by Ben Stiller, who also takes on ghe lead role of Walter Mittey, the film also stars Kristen Wiig (Adventureland, Paul), Sean Penn (Gangster Squad), Adam Scott and Shirley MacLaine in the main roles of the film.
The story centres around the eponymous Walter, however, it’s subtly different from that of Thurber’s short story in which the title character is married with children. In the modern day adaptation he’s an office worker at Life magazine, but as with both of its previous incarnations he finds escape from the daily plod of his own life in fantastical daydreams that see him becoming the heroic traveller that he aspires to be.
However, when his daydreaming gets him and Cheryl, the girl in his office that he likes, played by Kristen Wiig (Zoolander 2), into trouble and it looks like they might lose their jobs, he sets off on an international voyage in the real world to put everything right. Along the way he finds that the things that he’s imagined aren’t a patch on the adventures he gets into for real.
Spurred on by the heroic presence of Sean Penn’s free spirited arctic explorer and photographer character, Sean O’Connell, Walter Mitty embarks on a series of fantastical day dreams that see him plucking up the courage to make a move on Cheryl, as well as taking the front cover of Life, trekking the arctic tundra, jumping from helicopters into the sea and driving a very small red car.
Adam Scott plays Walter’s annoying bully of a boss, who gets tangled up with him in what looks like a stunning building plummeting fight scene, while Shirley MacLain (Downton Abbey Series 4) plays his henpecking and beloved mum.
Watch the trailer below and check out the he red car scene at the end of the trailer, which has surely got the potential to be a reference to The Matrix with Walter choosing the red car and possible changing his life forever.
 UK release date, cast, storyline and trailer from the movie news section of Tuppence Magazine.){kind=link}