Betty Thomas Finally Realizes What She Signed On For, Bails On Directing 'Alvin & The Chipmunks 3'

It looks like director Betty Thomas woke up and smelled the coffee. And these weren't your ordinary Folgers crystals.

With production set to begin on the third installment of the "Alvin & The Chipmunks" franchise in eleven weeks, Betty Thomas has decided not to helm the picture, leaving Fox executives scrambling to find somebody so they can still meet the targeted release date of December 16, 2011.

But really, their task shouldn't be too hard. It wasn't like Thomas was some kind of auteur (she helmed "Alvin & The Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel" and before that, was best known for telling Eddie Murphy when to make funny faces in "Doctor Dolittle") and with the third installment said to be shooting in a seaside location (maybe Hawaii) we're sure there are plenty of hacks who wouldn't mind a paid vacation that requires little more than telling Jason Lee to act like a jackass.

At any rate, and in case you care, Fox was toying with shooting in 3D but will apparently go 2D now and the plot will center on the Chipmunks getting shipwrecked (hence the seaside location). We're sure there is an apt metaphor somewhere in there.