Brand drops out of Rentaghost remake

Russell Brand has reportedly dropped out of the big-screen remake of Seventies children’s comedy Rentaghost.

The comic had been lined up to play Fred Mumford, a newly-dead slacker who opens up a temp agency hiring out hosts, in what was be a Beetlejuice-style comedy.

It was being produced by Warner Bros. However, Hollywood website Deadline reports that Brand withdrew from the role after the Arthur remake he filmed for them made a disappointing performance at the box office.

Now Ben Stiller will be the star, while the film has passed over to 20th Century Fox.

Tom Lennon and Robert Ben Garant who previously worked with Stiller on Night at the Museum, are set to work on the script. According to Deadline, Stiller plays an American management consultant sent to the UK to turn around the failing Rentaghost company.

The original series ran on BBC1 from 1976 to 1984.

Published: 13 Oct 2011