Steve Carell to produce and star in The Dogs of Babel

As far as dramatic pieces go, probably the closest thing Steve Carell has done so far would be Dan in Real Life, and that film was undoubtedly a comedy. He had a few chances to show his chops opposite Juliette Binoche, and held up pretty well. He's about to get his first real shot at a straight up serious role as he's set to produce and star in The Dogs of Babel, based on the novel by Carolyn Parkhursts's 2003 novel.

Todd Phillips(The Hangover) was once attached to direct back when the film was with Focus Features, but now it resides under Mandate Pictures who are in search of a director to get the ball rolling immediately. Jamie Linden(Dear John) penned the script, which I must admit gives me some pause. Then again he also wrote We Are Marshall, which was excellent.

Carell would play a linguistics teacher who returns home one day to find his wife dead in the backyard. Her death is under mysterious circumstances, but the evidence points to it being an accident. Not convinced, the teacher decides to try and teach his dog how to speak in order to find out what it knows, since the dog was the only one present.

Weird premise, which if handled wrong could turn into a slightly deranged Year of the Dog. 

Thanks to THR for info on this story!