Given the carnival atmosphere of their family story, I’m surprised it has taken this long for Hollywood to explain how circus pioneers The Ringling Bros. came to be. The good news is that Paramount Pictures is moving forward on a Ringling Bros. feature film but today’s information might leave you feeling a little blue.

That’s because the studio has tapped ‘The Smurfs’ writers David Stem and David Weiss to pen the screenplay, which THR says will be 'conceived as a family adventure in the spirit of 'Night at the Museum' and 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'"

Few would confuse ‘Smurfs’ for fine art, though from Sony’s perspective, the movie did earn $563 million worldwide, so it’s easy to see why the studio would go back to Stem and Weiss to see if they could replicate some of their family “magic.” They’re currently writing the ‘Smurfs’ sequel, but their credits include ‘Shrek 2’ and ‘Daddy Day Camp.’

As you probably already know, the seven Ringling Bros. built one of the largest and must successful traveling circuses in the world, boasting that they’d created “The Greatest Show on Earth” when they purchased their rivals at Barnum & Bailey. Don’t expect a ‘Water for Elephants’ type of adventure, though, as THR says this story will be set in present day.

That’s probably a good choice, and there’s plenty of material at a circus to weave a winning family story. Let’s see what they are able to conjure up.

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