DVDizzy Forum

Steven Spielberg has a new imaginary friend.

The A-list director has signed on for his next project, Variety.com reports, and it's a remake of "Harvey," about a grown man's friendship with a 6-foot-3-inch invisible white rabbit who goes by that name.

Based on a play by Mary Chase that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, the original film starred consummate straight man Jimmy Stewart in a role that played to the earnest quality the actor also displayed in "It's a Wonderful Life."

Stewart's turn as bunny-loving Elwood P. Dowd in the 1950 version of "Harvey" earned the actor an Oscar nod for best actor, and co-star Josephine Hill won best supporting actress for her portrayal of the long-suffering aunt who tries to get Elwood committed.

In a scene from the movie's trailer, Stewart's Dowd relates how he first met the rabbit. "I heard this voice say, Good Evening Mr. Dowd.

"I turned around, and here was this big six-foot rabbit leaning up against the lamp post.

"I thought nothing of that because when you've lived in a town as long as I've lived in this one, you get used to the fact that everybody knows your name."

Casting for the Spielberg production is to begin immediately, Variety reports, and those who have trouble imagining someone other than Stewart in the role will be eager to see what actor will attempt to fill his shoes and reimagine the part for a new generation of moviegoers.

Novelist Jonathan Tropper, known for blending humor and tragedy in "The Book of Joe" and several other works including the forth coming "This is Where I Leave You," penned the new screenplay, his first. Spielberg's Dreamworks and 20th Century Fox will co-produce.

Filming is set to being early next year, and Variety reports that Spielberg was eager to return to work. His last directing effort to arrive in theaters to date was "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" in 2008. He is currently in post-production on "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," based on the Belgian comic book character and due in theaters for the 2011 holiday season.

It's not Spielberg's first time working with hare-raising material. He produced the bunny-trailblazing "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," an early effort in combining live action and animation, in 1988.