Borrowing heavily from the master...
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie gets off the ground
The long-awaited movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is scheduled to finally get off the ground.
The Spyglass/Disney adaptation of the late Douglas Adams' spoof sci-fi cult is to begin shooting in London in spring 2004, reports Teletext.
Austin Powers and Meet The Parents director Jay Roach had been trying to get the go-ahead for the project for six years.
Roach was firm friends with Adams, and when the author died two years ago the movie was condemned as "too British, too quirky, too expensive," but Roach remained determined to get it made.
Roach was unable to commit himself to directing the film as he had already promised Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller he would direct a Meet The Parents sequel.
Spike Jonze also turned down Hitchhiker's but recommended UK video team Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith.
The duo have made videos for Blur and REM, and came up with a pitch that was, according to Roach, "a high production value film at a much lower cost". The studio gave it the green light.
The comedy is the story of a bemused human's space travels after Earth has been demolished to make way for a space bypass.
http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_828320.html
