The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye starrer, which itself was based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber. The film centers on Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), a man who escapes his unexciting daily life by delving into elaborate daydreams in which he is suddenly a heroic character and these two new pictures from Empire would seem to exhibit both sides of Mitty’s life.
Directed by and starring Stiller this is a movie that seemed to generate a lot of buzz out of CinemaCon earlier this year, but without a trailer and with only a smattering of pictures so far it’s hard for anyone that hasn’t seen the footage to gain an idea of just what we’re in for. An Oscar campaign is likely in the film’s future as those that did see the footage found themselves comparing it to the likes of It’s a Wonderful Life and Forrest Gump, whether those are comparisons a movie is seeking these days is yet to be seen.
As for those of you that have seen the original don’t expect more of the same as Stiller tells Empire after turning down various different incarnations of the film in the past, “The 2005 version was just an updated version that wasn’t a musical. All it was ever going to be was ‘not as good as the original’. We were aiming for something indefinable, a movie that left you with a feeling at the end. I’ve never made a movie like that, and it’s a really hard target to hit. It’s hard to put into words.
Along with Stiller, the film co-stars Kristen Wiig, Patton Oswalt, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn and Sean Penn.
Check out the second picture directly below. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty hits theaters on December 25.
