Robert Downey Jr. To Become Dr. Dolittle

By Michaela Bush
 
Dr. Dolittle, anybody?
 

Universal Pictures just won a bid for a remake of “The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle”, and guess who’s playing the titular role? Tony Stark—I mean, Robert Downey Jr.
 
Stephen Gaghan (“Syriana”, “Gold”) is directing and rewriting an old script written by Tom Shepherd. This script is based on the children’s books by Hugh Lofting. Susan Downey, RDJ’s wife, will be producing along with Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum. So far, this is the only information available for the film. Additionally, reports claim that the budget for this film could climb into the live-action “Beauty and the Beast” range, but only time will tell.
 

If Roth and Kirschenbaum take this movie in the same direction of some of their more recent endeavors—“Alice in Wonderland” and “Maleficent”—perhaps it is possible that we will see a fairytale-esque adaptation for this film. This would, of course, be more in line with the 1960s movie starring Rex Harrison.
 

The Dolittle franchise is one of many children’s stories to get a 21st-century reboot, following the footsteps of Disney with “Mulan” and “Cinderella”, among several others. The success of these movies in combination with Universal’s wildly popular hits “Despicable Me” and “The Secret Life of Pets” could indicate the beginning of another huge franchise.
 
Eddie Murphy and Rex Harrison have brought Dr. Dolittle to life in previous films. The upcoming film starring Robert Downey Jr. is expected to begin once he’s finished filming “Avengers: Infinity War”. He’s been cast in an announced third movie in the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, as well as an untitled John Brinkley biopic. Of course, fans can expect to see him in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” this summer.
 
Is anyone looking forward to seeing what the great improv guy, RDJ, can do with this new role? What style do you hope or expect to see this film remade into—comedic like Murphy’s or a fairytale like Harrison’s, or perhaps something new entirely?

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via The Nerd Machine

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