Originally a comedy short film from the dynamic writing duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the twisted minds behind “Superbad,” “The Pineapple Express,” and the upcoming Ben Stiller-starring comedy “Neighborhood Watch,” “Jay and Seth Vs The Apocolapyse” has gone from interesting sensation in 2007 to a long-rumored feature film. Along with short film co-star Jay Baruchel, Rogen and Goldberg have been teasing the feature release for quite some time, with the casting of the group’s regular collaborators James Franco and Jonah Hill being announced back in September.
The Hollywood Reporter now has word that the newly titled “The Apocalypse,” initially picked up by production banner Mandate Pictures following the short trailer’s success, is set to be tackled by Sony Pictures who will finance and distribute the picture. What’s even better is that THR is also saying that the film will serve as the directorial debut of Rogen and Goldberg, which would makes sense, as the pair have had a mostly successful relationship with Sony that’s sparked “Superbad,” “Pineapple Express” and “The Green Hornet.”
“The Apocalypse” will follow the least likely pair of apocalyptic survivors, with Rogen and Baruchel playing themselves, and has long been set to feature many celebrity appearances with Baruchel previously stating that he’d like to have "a bunch of cameos, but I just want them to be corpses. I want them to be like 'Oh god, there's Will Smith's dead body in the corner!' And it would actually be him. So that's my recurring joke for the movie: I want there to be a lot of dead famous people in it."
Rogen also explained a while back that the story would involve "a bunch of friends who are stuck in a house together as the apocalypse happens outside and they kind of barricade themselves in. They think they've kind of survived the worst and then they realize they all really can't stand to be around each other as they're stuck in this house together." Well it looks as if along with Franco and Hill, we have a little better idea of just who those other friends may be, as the THR article also points out that regular Rogen/Goldberg collaborators Danny McBride and Craig Robinson are down to join “The Apocalypse” too. Apparently it will be in Franco’s apartment that the group will face the world’s end together. Awesome.
There’s no release date yet for this increasingly intriguing-sounding project, but we’re sure we’ll be hearing this one talked about at press junkets ad nauseam once they get the ball rolling, and we’re perfectly okay with that. The article ends with a note that production is set to start in spring, and we’d expect to hear about a few more Judd Apatow and Rogen/Goldberg collaborators joining the cast any day now.