'Napoleon Dynamite' director to helm Disney's 'Overnight at 42nd Street'

Jared Hess rose to cult status when he helmed Napoleon Dynamite in 2004. Eleven years later, the filmmaker hasn't quite found the same level of success with his other projects, but that may change soon. He just signed on to direct Disney's Overnight at 42nd Street.

Described as "Home Alone in a toy store," Overnight at 42nd Street is a movie the Mouse House has tried to make for the past couple years. As ComingSoon.net notes, the new comedy follows an absent-minded and recently divorced father to tries to save his relationship with his son while he stops a hostage situation.

Under a script by Oren Uziel (22 Jump Street), Overnight at 42nd Street was a project for Will Ferrell as both a star and producer at one time, Variety reports. But it appears he's moved on, as the studio looks for actors to play the son and father before the film officially gets greenlighted.

Previously titled just Overnight, this new action-adventure family comedy was once to be directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) and Steve Pink (the Hot Tub Time Machine films), with Pink involved just this summer, according to Deadline at the time. Disney hopes with this development Hess appeals to both younger and older audiences, like he did with Nacho Libre and the aforementioned Napoleon Dynamite in the past. Let's just hope he doesn't make anything as awful as Gentlemen Broncos this time.

Hess recently premiered his latest Don Verdean, starring Sam Rockwell, Jemaine Clement, Amy Ryan and Danny McBride, at this year's Sundance. It's set to hit theaters later this year. Hess also is in post-production on his next movie Masterminds, a heist comedy which stars Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Zach Galifiankis and Jason Sudeikis.

Image courtesy of INFGoff.com

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