Cesar award-winner Cecile de France (L'Auberge Espagnole) and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville have joined Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Jim Broadbent in Walden Media's Around The World In 80 Days, which is due to begin principal photography in mid-March in Thailand and Berlin.
Frank Coraci, whose credits include The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy, will direct the project, with Hal Lieberman (Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines) and Bill Badalato (About Schmidt) producing.
In the live-action version of Jules Verne's classic adventure story, Phileas Fogg (Coogan) and his sidekick Passepartout (Chan) must race around the globe for a bet, with the added challenge of a journey to China where Passepartout must restore a stolen sacred object. De France plays Monique, a disillusioned French artists who hitches a ride, with Broadbent playing Fogg's rival Lord Kelvin and support from Knoxville as an eccentric hobo.
Walden Media recently announced a partnership with The Walt Disney Company, which will release Ghosts Of The Abyss, the large format 3-D James Cameron picture, on Apr 11, and Holes, the adaptation of Louis Sachar's award-winning novel that will be released on Apr 18 and stars Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight and Shia LaBeouf.
As yet, Around The World In 80 Days has no domestic distributor attached despite a budget in the $100m region.
Currently in post-production for Walden is I Am David, based on the acclaimed novel by Ann Holm, and starring Joan Plowright and Jim Caviezel. The company is also making the first live-action film adaptations of C S Lewis' The Chronicles Of Narnia, beginning with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.
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