Oh, Don Cheadle. You know the old saying about not working with children and animals. You know it well, and yet you keep making films with George Clooney (big kid) and worked with Adam Sandler (beastly). And now? You’re co-starring with actual kids and real-live animals.
All right, so the kids aren’t actually kids – they’re teenagers, and one of them will be played by Emma Roberts, who recently starred as teen ‘tec Nancy Drew, but the animal stuff is all present and correct. Cheadle has signed on to Hotel For Dogs, which will see Roberts as one of two orphans who hide a boarding kennel’s worth of pooches in an abandoned hotel.
Cheadle’s playing the confused but caring social worker that helps keep the dog lovers out of trouble. Cue life lessons and plenty of poop jokes. The superbly named Thor Freudenthal is directing from Jeff Lowell’s screenplay, which is in turn based on Lois Duncan’s ‘70s kids book. Freudenthal will start pulling on the casts’ leashes in November.
