According to Variety, the suddenly VERY busy "40 Year-Old Virgin" Steve Carell has signed with Disney to star in Peter Hedges' comedy "Dan in Real Life," after he finishes work on Universal's "Evan Almighty."

"Carell plays a widower with three daughters who writes a parenting column for his local newspaper. His strict rules for behavior are tested when he falls for the girlfriend of his younger brother.

Carell is in the midst of filming episodes of the second season of NBC's "The Office" and recently completed indie "Little Miss Sunshine," directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and yet to be set for distribution.

Hedges, who last directed "Pieces of April" and who adapted "About a Boy" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," has just completed a rewrite of Gardner's script. Hedges also is adapting the Jonathan Tropper novel "Everything Changes" for Tobey Maguire and Sony."