Think Along The Lines Of ‘Get Him To The Greek’
Update: Judd Apatow tells HitFix, “It is just a story from Pete and Debbie’s current life. People really responded to their characters and problems. I felt like there was a lot of ground I could explore with them….There are some fun details yet to reveal but I will let them come out slowly. It’s more fun that way.”
Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann already played a married couple to tremendously successful effect in 2007’s “Knocked Up,“. Although the supporting couple in the film next to Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl, their relationship will take centerstage in Judd Apatow‘s next untitled directorial effort already slotted for a June 1, 2012 release.
Details are still being kept under wraps, but get this, apparently it’s a spin-off and Rudd and Mann are reprising their roles from “Knocked Up.” As Universal publicist Lindsey Mesenbourg tweets, think “Get Him To The Greek” (ie. sideways spinoff; minor characters elevated to lead role status, likely with some slight tweaks, probably in a different world than the previous film). Huh, we suppose considering Apatow’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and “Funny People” all centered in and or around martial or relationship problems (“Funny People” to a lesser extent, but there’s almost a divorce in there so it totally counts) we knew it would be another relationship drama, but another spin-off?
Not a lot of new details have arrived. Apatow is still writing and directing the project (as of mid-December he tweeted that he had 112 pages written), but it’s shooting this summer, so that’s something previously unrevealed. Presumably it has a title, but Universal isn’t building anticipation or more likely, Apatow hasn’t settled on one yet.
Apatow’s fourth directorial effort under the aegis of Universal with Erik Baiers, Vice President of Production, overseeing the project and the film is set to open on June 1, 2012 with currently no competition in its way. But, as previously reported, the weekend before and after are busy. May 25 is “Men In Black 3D,” which will surely battle him for number 1 the following week and only “John Carter of Mars” is scheduled so far for the following weekend, June 8. “Funny People” wasn’t bad, ambitious (relatively), and overly long, but it only grossed $71 million worldwide compared to the $200 million worldwide of “Knocked Up” and $175 mil worldwide of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” We’d be happy with a middle ground both in content and success, but we’d love to see Apatow leave his comfort zone with actors a little bit. Some fresh blood would probably do him good, but he’s right to recognize the chemistry between Rudd and Mann in “Knocked Up” still has a lot more potential we’ve not yet witnessed. [Variety]
