Beaver Blasphemy

When Perez Hilton broke the news on his website last week that none other than Steve Carell may star in a movie called "The Beaver," currently in development and allegedly slated for release in 2011, you can imagine my excitement!


Then I read the Hollywood Reporter source article linked in the post, including this suspiciously familiar description of the impending project:

Anonymous Content recently picked up "The Beaver," a script from first-time writer Kyle Killen about a man who walks around with a beaver puppet on his hand, treating it as something close to a human creature with human feelings.

Um, surely this sounds more than a tiny bit familiar to any longtime (or even new) readers of this blog, right? My travel beaver (which, incidentally, mysteriously went missing down in New Orleans just a few days prior to this announcement) is, in fact, a finger puppet which I've been toting around -- to the amusement of some, the embarrassment of others -- to various locales around the country (and abroad) for several years now.

Here's a pic of the furry little fella in happier times:

After careful consideration, though, I've decided to refrain from making any accusations of plagiarism, infringement or other creative/intellectual impropriety. Instead, I'd like to lobby the producers and development team to utilize -- and perhaps even incorporate -- the vast content found here at Vagenda's Beaver Lodge to help make this film the Oscar-worthy blockbuster and inevitable worldwide phenomenon its subject semi-aquatic rodent star so richly deserves. (My influence may be vast, but thus far not entirely fruitful, ya know?)

Accordingly, please consider Asphyxia 8 and the entire beaver blog posse at your disposal.

UPDATE: New York mag has apparently seen a copy of the spec script, which it heralds, in part, as "one of the more elegantly fucked-up stories we've read in a long, long time." Further describing the screenplay as "dark and witty," the article reveals that at one point the lead character, Walter, claims he is under the care of a "prescription puppet," and "begins interacting with everyone exclusively through The Beaver, who is as chipper, positive, and loving as Walter has been depressed, miserable, and remote." Loves it!

UPDATE II: The Blacklist declares The Beaver 2008's Hottest Unproduced Screenplay. More on the surprising development here. Happy and all, but still scratching my head. I mean, WTF? Meanwhile, still no word from Anonymous Content.