Variety says that Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have cast Russell Brand as the voice of the Easter Bunny in the live-action/CGI family comedy I Hop, coming to theaters on March 4, 2011.
Tim Hill, who mixed live action and CGI characters on Alvin and the Chipmunks, will direct starting this fall.
The trade says the film revolves around an out-of-work slacker who runs over the Easter Bunny while driving home late. Since the bunny can’t hop with a broken leg, the slacker is pressed into duty to save Easter. The film becomes a two-hander between the iconic holiday critter and the slacker, each of whom is running from adulthood.
The script was written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, who wrote Illumination’s first animated project, Despicable Me, for which Brand also voices a role.
