It's Game over for Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz.
The A-listers, who were planning to reunite onscreen for the
first time since 1994's smash The Mask, have pulled out of Focus
Features' dramedy A Little Game Without Consequence less than a
month before filming was set to get underway, the studio confirmed
Wednesday.
A source connected to the project told E!
Online that Carrey and Diaz's departure was the result of the usual
bugaboo of creative differences--specifically the actors were said to be
unhappy with the latest version of the script written by the movie's
Italian director, Gabriele Muccino.
Based on a French
play by Jean Dell and Gerald Sibleyras, A Little Game Without
Consequence follows a model couple who pretend to separate only to
find their friends never thought they were good together in the first
place. The story was adapted into the 2004 French comedy Un Petit Jeu
Sans Consequence.
According to the source, Carrey
and Diaz signed on pending a rewrite to address problems in the third
act without ruining the film's dark tone. But the draft turned in by
Muccino apparently took a different tact. The revised screenplay also
reportedly irked Game's producers, who wanted to make the
high-concept plot more commercial.
Following Carrey and
Diaz's exit, Muccino also dropped out.
"Due to amicable
but substantive creative differences, Focus Features and producers Alain
Chabat and Stephanie Danan are no longer making A Little Game
with Gabriele Muccino," the studio said in a statement. "We are actively
seeking a suitable replacement and plan to move forward with the project
when that happens."
Various reports have indicated that
Focus honcho James Schamus, who wrote The Ice Storm, is tackling
the latest rewrite in hopes of getting the project back on track.
Focus, which produced Carrey's quirky romantic drama
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, will likely have to go
forward without the funnyman, whose career had hiccupped in recent
months.
Carrey, 44, remains one of the highest paid
actors in the industry, often earning $20 million or more per film.
However, his last vehicle, 2005's Fun with Dick and Jane, tanked
at the box office, and he hasn't been able to get any of his planned
projects off the ground this year.
Paramount scuttled
two Carrey movies before shooting could begin--Used Guys, which
would have paired Carrey with Ben Stiller; and Ripley's Believe It Or
Not, helmed by Tim Burton--citing a laundry list of issues, most
notably escalating costs and script concerns.
As a
result, Carrey made a dramatic move, firing his longtime agents at
United Talent Agency, who had repped him since he was a sketch player on
In Living Color, and hiring Creative Artists Agency to get him
back in the game, if not A Little Game.
Next up
for Carrey is the mystery thriller The Number 23, due out next
year. He is also lending his voice to a big-screen animated version of
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who. (He will not, however, reprise
his title role in the third Ace Ventura sequel that is in the
works.)
As for Diaz, the 34-year-old will be seen
opposite Kate Winslet and Jude Law in the romantic comedy The
Holiday, due out Dec. 8 and is back as Princess Fiona in DreamWorks'
highly anticipated Shrek the Third, set for a May 18, 2007
release.
In Theaters 
