While the title of this article might lead you to believe that Simon Pegg has low standards when it comes to which movies he agrees to star in, rest assured that is not the case. Rather, Pegg has signed on for a role in the film Absolutely Anything, a sci-fi space comedy that will also feature the vocal talents of Robin Williams and Monty Python alumni John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones.
Pegg will play the lead role of Neil Clarke, “a disillusioned school teacher who suddenly finds he has magical powers, bestowed upon him by aliens.” The Monty Python gang will voice the aliens, and Robin Williams will voice Clarke’s dog. Look for Williams’s work in particular to be extremely subtle and understated. You won’t find it, but look for it anyway.
Pegg said of his own involvement in the movie:
“As someone whose love of comedy was hugely informed by Monty Python, the chance to work with Terry was a gift. Meeting your heroes is one thing – working with them is something else.”
Terry Jones is directing the film, which will be a mix of live-action and CGI. What else has Jones directed in the past? Oh, only a couple of movies called Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. No big deal, just two of the funniest movies of all time. So, you know, expect good things from this one.
Filming for Absolutely Anything will begin in London in March of next year. It will be competing for time with Monty Python’s stage revival as well as Pegg’s involvement in Mission: Impossible 5. Hopefully Robin Williams’s schedule will be wide open, because that will mean at least a brief reprieve from having to watch him in The Crazy Ones. It’s not a very good show.
