A remake of 1947's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has been in development since 1996, but Ben Stiller is the one who finally made it a reality.  In addition to directing, Stiller stars as the eponymous LIFE Magazine proofreader who, incapable of standing up for himself in the real world, retreats to a fantasy where he becomes his poised, confident opposite.  On his quests, he seeks to find a missing image taken by a photographer played by Sean Penn.  The first image from the film has been released, and we see a haggard Mr. Mitty holding a skateboard on terrain that doesn't seem particularly suited to skateboarding.

Hit the jump to check out the image.  20th Century Fox will be showing 15 minutes from the film at CinemaCon, so we'll be on the lookout for reaction to the footage.  The movie also stars Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Shirley MacLaine, Patton Oswalt, and Kathryn Hahn.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens December 25th.

Image via L.A. Times.

Stiller was circling the film eight years ago, but didn't feel that the script worked.  After Steve Conrad (The Weather Man) completely rewrote the script to remove the villain and focus more on Mitty's inner life, Stiller decided that the screenplay now felt "contemporary and relevant."  The actor-director went on to say "It becomes a detective story, and he ends up being more connected to who he is at the end of the movie."