Seth Rogen is a fairly unlikely movie star all in all, but a fully flung movie star he is, and one who’s gone from being the wacky scene-stealing sidekick to a bona-fide Hollywood insider, as demonstrated by his hosting role at the Spirit Awards over the weekend (and delivering a great monologue as well). He’s also made smart choices: producing and co-starring in comedy-drama “50/50,” moving into more serious fare with “Take This Waltz” and keeping busy with regular animation voice work alongside his more traditional starring roles.
But later this year, he’ll star in a film that has the potential to be his biggest mainstream hit yet: a comedy in which he features opposite the legendary Barbra Streisand, about a mother and son on a road trip together. Directed by Anne Fletcher (“The Proposal“), and penned by Dan Fogelman (“Crazy Stupid Love“), it shows every prospect of being the first Seth Rogen movie you can take your mom to, and that’s been aided by a new title change: according to Box Office Mojo, the film has switched from “My Mother’s Curse” to the far more evocative “The Guilt Trip.” The project co-stars Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Scott, Danny Pudi, Colin Hanks, Casey Wilson, Kathy Najimy and Dale Dickey, and hits theaters on November 2nd.
Meanwhile, a few more movies have been dated. Lionsgate, still looking for a horror hit to replace the “Saw” franchise, have moved “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D,” the latest reboot of the genre classic, from its old October date to January 4th 2013. Given that’s the frame “The Devil Inside” opened on this year, it’s not a vote of confidence in quality, but that film also made a killing (ha!), so it’s entirely understandable. In its place, the studio have pushed back “Sinister,” the Ethan Hawke vehicle from “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose” director Scott Derrickson, to the old ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ slot of October 5th, back from its old August release date. That gives it two weeks before “Paranormal Activity 4” hits theaters, which should be enough to make some extra cash.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of Sundance this year was “Safety Not Guaranteed,” the quirky comedy starring Aubrey Plaza and Jake Johnson as journalists investigating a man (Mark Duplass) who claims to be able to travel in time. FilmDistrict picked the project up at the festival, and they’ve now set it to go into limited release on June 8th, opposite “Prometheus” and “Madagascar 3.”
Finally, Paramount have set release dates for two other projects: the teen comedy “Fun Size,” the directorial debut of “The O.C.” creator Josh Schwartz, and the 3D concert movie spectacle “Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away.” The former will go up against “Alex Cross” and “Of Men And Mavericks” on October 26th, while the latter will have stiffer competition when it goes into limited release on December 21st, the same day as “World War Z,” “This Is Forty” and “Life Of Pi.”