Steve Carell making movie with Charke Kaufman, writer of ‘Eternal Sunshine’

I have very little fucks to give about Steve Carell these days. Left The Office, which made his career. I’m irrationally bitter about that. (Don’t say Daily Show.) Made some Typical Indie Movies, looks actually fantastic in Foxcatcher. But could really, really get me excited for a work of his would be some sort of dream pairing. Like this one.

The Verge:

Steve Carell is generating early Oscar buzz for his performance in the upcoming drama Foxcatcher, but now there’s exciting news about a project that’s further out. Deadline reports that Carell has signed on to star in an adaptation of the 1978 sci-fi novel IQ 83, and surrealist auteur Charlie Kaufman is now re-writing the script.

In the book, a plague begins dumbing down humanity, and the hero, Dr. James Healey, leads a team of scientists searching for a cure. The territory sounds strange — Deadline says it’ll be Strangelove-esque — but also like the perfect fit for both Carell and Kaufman. While Carell has stretched his range recently, leaving his comedian past behind for darker, more dramatic roles, he’s also great at hitting the mid-range between melancholy and clowning, a la Little Miss Sunshine. Likewise for Kaufman, who’s built a writing career through odd, literary movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich.

There are still details that need to be worked out: there’s no director signed on yet, for one. But a Kaufman-Carell team-up is sure to draw interest.

Plus, I mean. Kaufman doing science-fiction? Fuck yes.