There is nothing Hollywood likes more than to piggyback off a good idea, so we probably should have seen this coming. Hot off the success of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum‘s “21 Jump Street” this weekend, another cop comedy is coming down the pike, this time starring two veterans of the Judd Apatow school of laffs.
Seth Rogen and Kevin Hart — who both appeared in “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Undeclared” — will star in an untitled cop comedy now set up at Paramount. There are no plot details at the moment — except that Rogen and Hart will play partners — but the idea was hatched in the brain of Rodney Rothman, the writer/producer who crossed paths with the duo on “Undeclared” oh those many years ago, and apparently has been kicking this around ever since. That this happens to be announced the Monday after Rogen’s bud Jonah Hill’s “21 Jump Street” topped the box office is surely just a coincidence. Update: Well, this just got more interesting. The film will be a period piece set in post-World War II jazz scene with the duo investigating a drug ring. Okay, that sounds cool, Daddy-O.
Cynicism aside, both of these guys are very funny dudes and if the approach is smart enough, this could be a fun time had by all. But of course, it will depend on who eventually comes on to direct in terms of where this concept goes (and hopefully it amounts to more than one guy is white and the other is black). Rogen, Hart and Evan Goldberg will all be producing with Rothman writing the script. No word yet on when this will land but surely, this will light a fire under Sony to get their “21 Jump Street” sequel out of the gate first before audiences begin to tire of Apatow-folks in uniform. [Variety]
