Director McG plans scary buddy comedy

LOS ANGELES - "Charlie's Angels" director McG is teaming with the Oscar-winning writer of "Little Miss Sunshine" for his next movie.

"Nightcrawlers," a visual effects-laden action-comedy, is about a neurotic father who must turn to his childhood tormentor in order to face his lifelong fear of the dark and the monsters who have haunted him.

"It's a buddy comedy where what kids are afraid of turns out to be real, and our guys have to go into these fearscapes and battle all these monsters," said McG, a.k.a. Joseph McGinty Nichol, who is eyeing a November start for the production.

The Warner Bros. project was written by Michael Arndt, who won an Oscar this year for "Sunshine," his first script. Brian Lynch was the original writer on "Nightcrawlers."

McG most recently directed the Warners football drama "We Are Marshall," starring Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox, which fumbled at the box office with a $43.5 million gross.

McG also plans to direct "Yucatan," a heist movie based on almost 1,700 pages of recently discovered notes and storyboards done by the late Steve McQueen for a passion project he had planned to star in. McG will also produce, with "Harry Potter" producer David Heyman.

"Like any suburban pussy, I'm infatuated with Steve McQueen," McG said.

McG made a name for himself in the music video world and broke into features with the 2000 hit "Charlie's Angels," the movie version of the popular 1970s television show. He also directed the sequel, "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."