Variety reports that animation director Tom McGrath, who made his name at DreamWorks Animation with the three "Madagascar" movies--the most recent one Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted having grossed nearly $500 million worldwide--is looking to reteam with those films' star Ben Stiller for his live action directorial debut RentaGhost for Fox.

Stiller and McGrath have worked together extensively over the years on all three "Madasgascar" movies as well as Megamind, produced by Stiller and directed by McGrath. Stiller joined the project being written by Night at the Museum's Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant last October and one assumes that he was the one who brought McGrath on board.

The movie is based on a childrens' comedy that ran for 58 episodes over 9 seasons on the BBC from 1976 to 1984 following the adventures of a man who dies and decides to create RentaGhost, a service that leases out ghosts and ghouls to the living.

We're going to take a wild guess from the premise and the talent involved that this is being geared up by 20th Century Fox as another big budget family film.

(Photo source: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com)