Believe it or not - wait hold!

By M&C News Jun 14, 2006, 7:23 GMT

We’re going to have to wait a bit longer to see Jim Carrey on the big screen as Robert Ripley the newspaperman and oddities collector.

Trade reports have Paramount Pictures chairman Brad Grey putting the Tim Burton/Jim Carrey project on ice due to its ever expanding budget, last reported at over $150 million.

The film was to begin shooting in November, 2006.
 
"We are looking forward to making Ripley's with Tim and Jim; just later than originally expected," Paramount President Gail Berman said in a statement.

Burton and Carey are reportedly still in active discussion with Paramount which insiders say is a positive sign the film will eventually be made.

Burton is next taking on the film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, the Broadway musical which just captured the Best Director Tony Award on Sunday night.

Johnny Depp is attached to star in the film, which tells the tale of a murderous barber who cuts the throats of his customers as a means of revenge. Paramount will produce under its Dreamworks shingle.

Carrey fans, on the other hand, may have reason for concern. ‘Believe It or Not’ is the actor's second big project to be dropped recently.

‘Used Guys’, a laffer about a futuristic world run by women, was nixed by Fox in May after its budget came in at $112 million.