Jim Carrey stars as a man who becomes obsessed with the 23 enigma once he reads about it in a strange book that seemingly mirrors his own life.

The film was a financial success, grossing $77.6 million, but received generally negative reviews from critics.

The police arrest her lover because he found her body and picked up the murder weapon, assuming it was a type of sexual roleplay.

Fingerling then prepares to commit suicide by jumping from a hotel balcony, and the book ends abruptly.

After Flinch was sent to prison for the murder, Walter wrote the book in the room as an elaborate suicide note, changing the details of his confession into a deranged fantasy.

Walter declares that this is not the happiest ending, but it is the right one, and expresses hope that things will return to normal for his family once he is released from prison.

He was scheduled to work on an ultimately unrealized remake of the Swedish film Sleepwalker before beginning production on The Number 23.

[8] Schumacher said he was unaware of the 23 enigma until he read the script and was described in the Los Angeles Times as a "numerology agnostic."

"[11] When he discovered that the first page of the script involved the lead character trying to capture a pit bull, he was "freaked out," given the change in name of his production company.

[12] Elisabeth Shue was initially signed on and scheduled to begin filming the part of Agatha[13] but it was reported in January 2006 that she dropped out when she became pregnant.

[15] During production, cast and crew members became fixated on the 23 enigma and began noticing the number in their daily lives.

Among other coincidences, Virginia Madsen observed that the parking space assigned to her during shooting was numbered 23 and she and co-star Danny Huston had been married 23 years earlier.

Radar cited a source which told them that, during filming, Carrey "unzipped his fly and urinated as part of his improvisation.

The site's consensus reads: "Jim Carrey has been sharp in a number of non-comedic roles, but this lurid, overheated, and self serious potboiler is not one of them.

[20] However, Michael Phillips, filling in for Ebert on the Worst of 2007 show (aired January 12, 2008) put The Number 23 at No.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone declared the film the year's worst star vehicle on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007,[21] while Colm Andrew of the Manx Independent said the film "delivers a rambling, confusing narrative with only a few stylistic elements thrown in".