Paul Blart: Mall Cop star Kevin James is set to star in the title role in MGM’s The Zookeeper for director Frank Coraci.

Zookeeper is a tale of a lonely zookeeper who decides to leave his job because he can’t meet a girl, leading to intervention by the zoo’s animals.

Variety reported that James had always been his first choice for the role, particularly due to his ability to perform physical comedy.

Production is set to start hopefully this summer.