Just when you thought Glen Powell couldn’t be more booked and busy, along comes word that he’s adding another potential project to his To Do list. He’s now attached to star in a new version of Heaven Can Wait for Paramount.
As originally reported by Puck’s What I’m Hearing… newsletter and since confirmed by the likes of The Hollywood Reporter, Powell will play a man who dies prematurely due to an antsy angel and returns to Earth in the body of a recently murdered millionaire.
Stephen Gaghan, who wrote Traffic and wrote/directed Syriana, is on board to script this one.
Originally a 1938 play by Harry Segall, Heaven Can Wait was first turned into a 1941 film by Alexander Hall called Here Comes Mr. Jordan. That outing featured a boxer given a second chance. More famously, it has since crossed the paths of Warren Beatty (who directed and starred in 1978’s Heaven Can Wait, which focused on an NFL player) and Chris Rock, who brought us 2001 comedy Down To Earth, about a comedian in a similar situation.
According to the Reporter, Gaghan’s concept features a new character in the same crisis, so it isn’t a direct remake of any of the previous films.
Powell, of course, is much in demand, attached to a variety of films in development, including Edgar Wright’s new adaptation of The Running Man. He’ll next be on our screen in disaster movie Twisters, due to blow into cinemas on 19 July.