Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller are teaming up for “Hardy Men,” a grown-up take on the teen sleuths known as the Hardy Boys. Shawn Levy is attached to direct the 20th Century Fox buddy action comedy, which would be produced by Stiller and his Red Hour Films partner Stuart Cornfeld.
The long-in-development project sees the Hardy Boys grown up but not speaking to each other, having been estranged for many years. They are forced to overcome sibling rivalry when they reunite to solve a mystery.
Bob Kosberg, who brought the idea to Stiller several years ago, also is producing.
The project is out to writers, and the studio is hoping for a shoot in 2008.
Carla Hacken is overseeing for Fox.
“The Hardy Boys” was a long-running book series that began in 1927 and was written by various ghost writers under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon. The series focused on two teenage brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy, amateur detectives who often assisted their father, a private detective, in solving crimes.
The original series, which ran through 1979, encompassed 58 books, many of which were updated over the years. They also were subsequent book series as well as graphic novels and comic books.
In addition, the two brothers have appeared in several TV incarnations. Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk played the siblings on episodes of “The Mickey Mouse Club” in 1956 and ’57. Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy handled the title roles in an ABC primetime series “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries,” which ran from 1977-79.
Stiller and Levy are coming off the giant success of “Night at the Museum,” which has grossed more than $230 million at the boxoffice.
Cruise and Stiller teamed up for a behind-the-scenes spoof of “Mission: Impossible II” for the MTV Movie Awards. In it, Stiller portrayed Cruise’s eager-to-befriend stunt double.
Stiller is repped by UTA, while Cruise is repped by CAA. Levy is repped by Endeavor and Ziffren Brittenham.
