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Exclusive: Adam Sandler May Be Circling a Project Called 'Fat Man'

by Alex Billington
January 28, 2011

We've seen Adam Sandler as Satan's son, a dimwitted waterboy, an Israeli hair stylist, an angry golfer, and soon a woman in Jack & Jill, but how about as a very fat dude who weighs 800 pounds? We ended up with a interesting scoop the other day while speaking with Miguel Arteta, director of Cedar Rapids, at Sundance. During our interview (coming soon) we asked him about what films he has lined up next. He told us he's not formally attached to anything yet, but is very interested in a project titled Fat Man that supposedly Sandler is circling as well. And yes, the main character is an 800lbs. fat man who has a love affair with his nurse.

Here is what Arteta told us about Fat Man at the end of our interview before we turned off the camera:

"I'd love to do a movie with Adam Sandler that... someone said he was flirting with? It's called Fat Man. I don't know if you've heard about this? One of the main writers of The Simpsons wrote the script and it's amazing. He would play an 800lbs. guy who has a love affair between him and his nurse. And he's naked for the first half of the film... and it's very touching... and it's very funny.

So, I hope he gets the gumption to do it, and maybe I get a crack at that, that would be amazing. Certainly, it would be not a movie you would forget anytime soon... and [it's] beautifully written. I don't know if that's meant to get out on the internet..."

We don't know who the writer is that he's talking about and we've done some searching, but came up empty handed regarding any other news on this screenplay. As far as we know, this is the very first time anyone has mentioned Fat Man in public and it sounds quite intriguing. Sandler as an 800lbs. guy who falls in love with his nurse (probably cast as some gorgeous actress) and yet, it's a touching and beautifully written script? I hate the make the comparison, but this sounds like this might similar to Kyle Killen's The Beaver, which has an insanely kooky concept but looks to be a very touching film. I'm also betting that 800lbs. character loses that weight by the end, but who really knows as this could still be a more broad comedy than I'm imagining.

That's all he told us and that's all we know for now, but I thought I'd put this out there to fuel discussion on the concept of seeing Sandler as an 800lbs. fat guy. We'll let you know if we hear anything else! Thoughts?

Update: After sending the news over to our friends at The Playlist, they updated their post with a link to an old Variety article in 2003 talking about the film. Apparently it's a spec script picked up by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions that was written by The Simpsons' Mike Reiss. Here's a plot synopsis, which does confirm what I thought about him losing the weight: "a spec script by Mike Reiss about an 800-pound man who drops 600 pounds with the help of a nurse he finds more appealing than a Happy Meal." So we've got confirmation that after 7 years, this might be back in the works and Sandler could be interested again.

Filed under Casting, Movie News, Opinions

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