Ben Stiller To Direct 'The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty'

Once Ben Stiller landed one of the most sought after yet beguiling roles in Hollywood, why not direct himself, too?

Twitchfilm.com reports that Stiller will not only star in the big screen adaptation of the classic 1939 James Thurber short story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," -- he signed on in April -- he'll helm it from behind the camera, too.

This will be Stiller's fourth directorial effort, after "Reality Bites," "The Cable Guy," "Zoolander" and "Tropic Thunder," and in a way, his first remake: the story was originally made into a film back in 1947.

A number of stars, including Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell, were rumored to be interested in the part; Sacha Baron Cohen was most recently rumored to be in talks for the part, in April 2010.

At one point, Gore Verbinski was attached to direct, but that fell apart, opening the door for Stiller.

Stiller is due to soon direct a sequel to Zoolander, as well, and recently produced Richard Ayoade's debut film, the teen drama, "Submarine." Currently, he's filming the comedy, "Neighborhood Watch" with Vince Vaughn.

For more, click over to Twitchfilm.com.