Ben Stiller To Make 'Tropic Thunder'

With two absurd comedies in the pipeline, the funnyman looks like he will have a busy 2005.

Dec  9 2004

Ben Stiller has announced two new projects that should see him continue to rule the comedy roost for the foreseeable future.

After a hugely successful 2004, when the smash hits 'Starsky and Hutch' and 'Dodgeball' cancelled out duds like 'Envy', 'Our House' and 'Along Came Polly', it looks like the seemingly omnipresent funnyman is all set to have a similarly successful 2005.

This week his production company Red Hour announced plans to make two new comedies in the near future, with Stiller starring in both and possibly even directing.

The first to roll before cameras will probably be 'Tropic Thunder', a high concept comedy that Stiller has been developing ever since he worked on 'Empire of the Sun' way back in 1987.

'What started out as a comedy about the hardship of actors having to reintegrate into society after taking the two week Dale Dye boot camp and filming a war movie has turned into a comedy about five actors who go on location and find themselves relying on their boot camp experiences when they get stuck in a real war-like situation' Stiller told Variety.

The other project is the intriguingly titled 'CivilWarLand in Bad Decline', a labour of love that has also long been in development.

Based on a George Saunders novella, it tells the tale of a downtrodden administrator who unwittingly employs a contract killer to stop gangs who are terrorising the visitors to his civil war theme park, and should Stiller star, we're guessing it'll give him yet another opportunity to do his tried and tested angry man schtick.

And with the sure-fire hit 'Meet the Fockers' coming out at the end of next month, it seems that, much like 2004, barely a week will go by in 2005 when a Ben Stiller comedy doesn't get released.