After years of solid work as a background player, Peter Dinklage finally broke into the mainstream with his terrific performance as conniving, charismatic Tyrion Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones, and as the fifth season of that series approaches, it appears that Hollywood is finally seeing the actor as leading man material.
Paramount Pictures has recruited prolific helmer Adam Shankman to direct Dinklage in O’Lucky Day, an R-rated comedy in the vein of Bad Santa about a con man who poses as a real, live leprechaun. The project, which has been in the works for sometime, is described as being “deep in R-rated territory but wrapped around an emotional heart.”
Andrew Dodge (Bad Words) penned the script, which is undergoing rewrites by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Friday the 13th).
O’Lucky Day certainly sounds like it could yield a fair share of laughs, though Shankman’s involvement isn’t exactly thrilling news. His past films have included the (awful) Rock of Ages, Bedtime Stories, Hairspray and The Pacifier. This pic does sound a little bit more adult-oriented than any of those ventures, but whether that will make a difference remains to be seen.
For his part, Dinklage will star in the fifth season of Game of Thrones this April, and he’ll also be seen in blockbuster action-comedy Pixels and in 2016’s Melissa McCarthy comedy Michelle Darnell. There’s no telling whether O’Lucky Day will mark his arrival as a headliner, but really any project that gives an actor as furiously talented as Dinklage a chance to stretch himself is fine by us.
