A ‘Big Year’ for Steve Martin

Steve Martin is in negotiations to star alongside Jack Black and Owen Wilson in the upcoming Fox 2000 comedy The Big Year.

Fresh from hosting the Oscars alongside Alec Baldwin on Sunday, The Hollywood Reporter learns that Martin is gearing up for the bird-watching role initially intended for Dustin Hoffman.

The film is based on Mark Obmascik’s book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession which is about three men who try to outdo each other in a bird-watching competition to spot the rarest birds in North America.

The Devil Wears Prada’s David Frankel will be directing and Ben Stiller is amongst those producing.

Can ornithology be funny? Maybe.  Will it better than Jack Black’s Year One?  Probably.

The Big Year starts shooting in May.