Ever since donning a rabbit mask in David Lynch’s Inland Empire, it seems that Naomi Watts is getting in touch with her more animalistic side -- from foraging for food in the forest to running erratically in front of oncoming traffic. Her latest screen project reflects her desire to become one with nature, as Watts will headline First Look Pictures’ adaptation of “Kicked Bitten and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World’s Premiere School for Exotic Animal Trainers,” says Variety.

Amy Sutherland’s source material focuses on the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College, where students learn how to communicate with the likes of camels, emus, baboons, cougars, wolves and snakes; it’s like Hogwarts taught by Dr. Doolittle. The film however, will be developed as a romantic comedy by Kristin Hahn (The Departed) and Dana Adam Shapiro (Murderball). Despite the producers’ previous wins, developing the story as a romantic comedy seals the project’s fate of mediocre to laughable.