According to Variety, Peter Hewitt (Garfield: The Movie) will direct space alien fantasy Chuckle Bears for Nickelodeon Movies with Paramount set to distribute.

Chuckle Bears, penned by Hewitt and Phil Hughes, centers on aliens from another planet who take the form of brightly colored teddy bears and go on a mission to Earth to banish sadness from the human race. Complications ensue when a greedy toy exec exploits the aliens by creating a line of toys that look like them.

Hewitt's also attached to direct Zoom's Academy for Sony and Revolution. Other credits include the children's film Thunderpants, which Hughes wrote; Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?; The Borrowers; Tom and Huck; and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

Nick Movies recently signed Jack Black, Mike White and Jared Hess for a project that will see Black topline, Hess helm and White and Hess co-script the story of a Mexican priest who secretly moonlights as a masked wrestler. For more on that,