Looks like magician comedy Burt Wonderstone is set to re-ignite an old rivalry, as Jim Carrey is now negotiating to star alongside Steve Carell.

Wonderstone finds Carell as the title character, a Las Vegas illusionist who ditches his partner and then finds himself upstaged by a much hipper street magician (Carrey) who is stealing crowds away from him.

Carell and Carrey have a history of sparring on screen – the former Office man was Evan Baxter in 2003’s Bruce Almighty, an annoying colleague given some godlike comeuppance by Carrey. He even went on to play the character in floptastic sequel Evan Almighty.

The magical comedy has been developing for a little while now, lingering on Carell’s schedule as a possible future project, but always shoved down the list as other films came along. With the actor now free to make more movies, Wonderstone has finally gotten its chance, with shooting set to start shortly. Don Scardino is calling the shots, and Carrey getting close to locking in his role means things are moving forward properly for Burt at last.

Carrey was last seen in Mr Popper’s Penguins, but until this news, he had no solid next job despite several possible projects in development.