Gemma Arterton and Benedict Cumberbatch are joining former Monty Python member Terry Jones’s upcoming animated comedy Absolutely Anything. It is being reported that Arterton is signed on for the project and Cumberbatch is in negotiations.
According to The Wrap –
The story revolves around a teacher who discovers he has magical powers and can make things happen with the wave of his hand. He can wipe out classrooms of badly behaving students and bring people back to life. But he experiences mishap after mishap as he tries to learn how to use these powers.
Jones is calling upon most of his former Pythom cast mates to provide voiceovers. Robin Williams has also been cast in the film which is expected to get into production early next year.
It is interesting that people are calling this a Monty Python project though. True, it does have all the living Pythons except for Eric Idle participating, but in the past members of the group have stated that as long deceased member Graham Chapman “continues to remain dead” that there would be no real true Python reunion. Idle’s absence may be due to some possible bad blood between him and Jones after Jones panned the Broadway show Monty Python’s Spamalot which Idle spearheaded. Idle also didn’t participate in the recent animated biopic A Liar’s Autobiography – The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman, which was produced by Jones’s son.
