According to Deadline, Danny DeVito (The Comedian) may be the latest addition to the cast of Dumbo, Disney’s live-action update of its own classic 1941 animated feature film. Dumbo is the nickname given to a baby circus elephant mocked for its humongous floppy ears, however it turns out those ears enable it to fly.
Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland) helms from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger (Transformers: Dark of the Moon). Kruger and Justin Springer are producing. DeVito would play Medici, owner of a small circus which is getting acquired by the evil big top circus villain Vandemere. Eva Green, who previously teamed with Burton on Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, is in talks to play Colette, a French trapeze artist who works for Vandemere. The role of Vandemere has yet to be cast.
DeVito, a veteran in the entertainment industry, is an actor, comedian, director, and producer. He was awarded with an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing Louie de Palma on the television comedy series Taxi, which ran from 1978 to 1983. He has appeared in over 50 feature films, most notably Throw Momma from the Train, Batman Returns, Get Shorty, and L.A. Confidential. DeVito can currently be seen on FX in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.