Gore Verbinski's take on an Avatar

By Matt Holmes /

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN director Gore Verbinski and Universal Pictures have bought the rights to a 2007 Wall Street Journal article which told the true life tale of a 53 year old chain smoking diabetic, who only 7 months into his marriage spent as much as 20 hours per day online pretending to be a musclebound entrepreneur through a computer Avatar version of himself. He did it on the program Second Life where he even got himself an online wife. You can read Alexandra Alter€™s full article €œIs This Man Cheating on His Wife€ HERE. Variety say EASTERN PROMISES and AMAZING GRACE writer Steven Knight will scribe the adaptation. Sue Hoogestraat, 58, an export agent for a shipping company, who is married to Mr. Hoogestraat (the guy with the Avatar) said of her husband...

"You try to talk to someone or bring them a drink, and they'll be having sex with a cartoon."
One wonders if my concentration levels could be kept up for 2 hours of watching a guy sit at a computer desk. Then again, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, a movie about a guy who believes a blow-up sex doll is his real girlfriend, kept me entertained for it's running length (albeit 106 minutes). Hopefully though this is just a fleeting interest for Verbinski before he commits to direct either BIOSHOCK or THE LONE RANGER, both which are being scribed with a view for him to helm possibly as his next movie.

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