Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was today announced as the centerpiece of this year’s New York Film Festival. This new adaptation of James Thurber’s story (previously filmed with Danny Kaye as the daydreaming hero) stars Stiller, Kristin Wiig, Kathryn Hahn, Adam Scott, Patton Oswalt, Shirley MacLaine and Sean Penn. The Twentieth-Century Fox release of the long-in-development flick (it was once going to star Jim Carrey) is set to open wide on Christmas Day. Speculation abounds that Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” will close the festival, or turn up as its “surprise” selection like “Lincoln” did last year. Stay tuned.