Rob Zombie or all people has been hired to direct a film based on Raised Eyebrows, a book about the last years of comedy legend Groucho Marx. Yeah, we’ve just raised a few of our own eyebrows.
The news was first reported by Deadline. The project will be based on Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s House, a memoir by Steve Stoliar. Oren Moverman, who co-wrote Love & Mercy, will adapt the book.
Stoliar wrote about his days as an archivist and secretary for Groucho during the last years of his life. He was a big Marx Brothers fan and also got to meet Groucho’s brothers and other Hollywood luminaries during their last days. Stoliar also had to deal with Erin Fleming, who was controlling Groucho’s personal and professional life at the time.
“I have been a huge Groucho Marx fan ever since I was a child and have read countless book on the comic legend, but after reading the book Raised Eyebrows, a totally new perspective on Groucho’s life emerged,” Zombie told Deadline. “I immediately saw this project as Groucho’s Sunset Boulevard and knew I had to bring it to the big screen. It is a sad, funny and very dark tale of a one of Hollywood’s greatest stars’ final years.”
Since the idea of the director of House of 1000 Corpses and two Halloween movies making a film about Groucho seems inconceivable, Stoliar defended the decision on Facebook. He noted that Zombie had praised the book in previous interview and admitted that Zombie is an odd choice.
“I fully understand the puzzled/negative/downright antagonistic comments about Rob Zombie (nee Robert Cummings, but he was mercilessly teased about that as a kid) directing my story. Indeed, Rob Z seems a very odd choice to direct an adaptation of my intimate, low-key, bittersweet Groucho memoir - especially if you judge an artist only by what he has done, rather than by what he is capable of doing,” Stoliar wrote. “Rob is as committed to doing justice to my book and making a splendid film as I am. He has no interest in exploiting Groucho or me or Groucho-and-me. He has always ‘gotten’ what the strengths of this story are and I have no reason to believe he won't continue to feel that way as the project progresses.”