ScreenCrave.com » Judd Apatow

News Roundup: Clint Eastwood, Barbara Walters, Judd Apatow’s Girls, and More

Laura Aguirre — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Clint Eastwood is generating a lot of buzz, and it has nothing to do with his latest film J. Edgar. The respected actor and director, whose name is synonymous with Hollywood, is going to the last place any of us thought he’d go – E! Find out more below. We’ve also got news on ABC and a long-running show they’ve decided to cancel.

Catch up below…

ABC Cans Long-Running Show: After nine seasons of chanting “Move that bus!” ABC has cancelled the reality series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The final episode will be on January 13, 2012.
Clint Eastwood Heading For Reality TV: No, you’re not dreaming. This is reality. Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood is following in the steps of the Kardashians. It turns out his wife Dina Eastwood and their two daughters are currently shooting a family reality show (a la Kardashian) for E! The show will explore what it’s like to live in a family of “Hollywood royalty” which Mr. Eastwood is clearly a part of. The show will focus more on the relationship between mother and daughters, and Mr. Clint will only be making a couple of cameos.
Barbara Walters Will Retire: Legendary journalist Barbara Walters is going to retire next year. During a break Ms. Walters leaned over to President Obama and told him that she needed to interview him before she retired next year. This was suppose to be a private conversation, but her mic was still on and a lot of people heard the news. There’s no telling is this is definite because she’s joked about retiring for many years, but who knows, maybe 2012 is her year to call it quits.

New Trailers:

G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation: The new trailer for G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation features big explosions, sword fighting and exotic locations. Bruce Willis also makes a brief appearance towards the end of the trailer. In this sequel, the team faces off against Zartan, his accomplices, and the world leaders he has under his influence. Check it out below.

Judd Apatow’s “Girls”: And finally, something refreshing. The first teaser for Judd Apatow’s HBO show “Girls,” starring the awesome Lena Dunham has hit the web, and it looks, well, quite entertaining. It’s got an early “Sex and the City” vibe to it, but these girls are in their 20s, not 30s. Take a look:

That’s the end of our round-up. Keep checking back at ScreenCrave for more entertainment news.

What are you excited for?

Bridesmaids Interview with Kristen Wiig, Judd Apatow and Paul Feig

Mali Elfman — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:19:30 +0000

It’s about time a film like this hits the theaters and proves that the women of comedy can take on the men. This week in theaters is the comedy of year, Bridesmaids by director Paul Feig, with the stellar writer/actress Kristen Wiig and produced by the comedy master Judd Apatow. Thanks to Paul Feig (“Arrested Development,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Weeds”) finally seeing Kristen Wiig’s potential to be a leading lady and the force of Judd Apatow’s approval behind the project, this film is the perfect storm of talent coming together and doing what they all do best — make people laugh. Find out how they got this project going and what it took to make it in our interview with the trio below…

The film is very much appealing to both women and men, but the title Bridesmaids sounds more like a chick, flick. Did you ever question that?

Judd Apatow: Originally it was called “Maid of Honor,” but a friend of mine made a movie and was trying to call his “Maid of Honor” and he called me said “is it okay if we use that title?” And I said “no we’re just about to make this movie, Maid of Honor!” And then he named his movie “M-A-D-E of Honor” and he out-played me.

Wiig: And then to get guys we were just going to call it “Naked Boobs and Guns”. [laughter] Honestly, we had a really hard time trying to think of the title.

Apatow: We gave up.

Feig: I think the feeling was it’s always going to play in previews as it’s about a wedding and with women, so what we didn’t want to do is alienate the female audience by pretending it wasn’t what it was. So I just thought of it as Devil Where’s Prada which I saw the trailer for and thought that wasn’t my demographic, then I saw it and called my male friends and said “you have to go see it,” so I think that’s the way to go.

Apatow: Is your demographic, men who where fancy three-piece suits?

Feig: Yes and they all showed up!

The comedy in this film is at times, out right raunchy, being the writers and creators of this film, was there anything that you felt bad about making your actresses do?

Kristen Wiig: I guess when they had to puke on each others hair I felt a little bit bad. But they actually liked it. It was fun! We made them really vomit.

Paul Feig: We were method that way. That was the only moment I really felt weird. It was Wendy that not only had throw-up in her hair, but had to sit, on her knees with her head in the toilet for about an hour while we were thinking up jokes, like “what would be even more funny.” That’s what’s so great about working with really funny women is that vanity comes second and anything that makes it real and funny, they’re just going to go for it, which is great!

Wiig, how free were you to work on set and are you able to improvise as much on the big screen as you are on the small?

Wiig: We rehearsed for weeks before, and did a lot of improvising there and then on the set, we shot it every way, we did the script, we would improvise, people would hand in lines from off camera, plus all of the cast are amazing improvisers so why not them go to town on what they do best.

Did that ruin a lot of takes?

Wiig: Oh yeah! Luckily you didn’t see that part.

Feig: That’s why we have no many jokes that aren’t in the trailer that aren’t in the film because we have this wealth of jokes and it’s better that because you get to see a new batch of jokes when you go to the movie.

Apatow, you seem to always have your finger on the pulse, how do you decide what comedies to tackle and who you want to be in them?

Apatow: I don’t think about it too much. I just think about what I’m interested in and what makes me laugh. A lot of the time it starts with performers. Kristen and I had so much fun on Knocked Up and Walk Hard, and then I think “who do I want to be around” and talk to for a couple of years. Because it takes a long time to make these films and there’s a lot to debate. Even now I’m going to cast this new movie that I’m going to direct and a lot of it is just “who do you want to see everyday” and “who really just personally makes you personally laugh.” But I never think in terms of the audicne or what they’ll expect or what they want, because you always try to do something different every time and feel like you’re breaking new ground and challenging yourself.

Feig: The great thing about Judd and his brand and what his name means to the public, is that it allows us to not have to cast famous movie stars, we can cast amazing people who you might know, but who might not normally get to star in their own movie. It’s such a testament to him and that he’s been doing it right, because he gets to launch people like Kristen who should be a star and the studio might want Angelina Jolie…

Wiig: …Are you saying I’m different from Angelina Jolie?

Feig: Well, she better watch out now! Kristen will now be playing Tomb Raider, we’re very excited.

Wiig: And the sequel to the Tourist.

Apatow: I thought Salt was very strong for someone who weighed 90 lbs. Those are strong, thin arms.

Apparently Apatow won’t be working with Angelina anytime soon! As you can see, none of them take anything too seriously, it’s all just part of the game.

The film is absolutely extraordinary and should not be missed! It’s in theaters tomorrow May 13th. Bring your friends and enjoy!

Judd Apatow to Produce Do Gooders

Damon Houx — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:38:06 +0000

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Judd Apatow has signed on to produce the upcoming film Do Gooders – the most recent in what seems to be a flurry of activity for the once-overexposed writer/director/producer. The film is based on a script by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, who recently wrote and directed A Good Old Fashioned Orgy with SNL vets Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte. Such suggest Gregory and Huyck (who started writing for TV) will want to direct this one as well.

There was a moment there where it seems Judd Apatow was going to take over all on-screen comedy. Working with Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, James Franco, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and on and on, his finger seemed in every pie. But by the time of Funny People, both he and Seth Rogen seemed to have worked too much over the last couple of years, and people were tired. Which seems to have led to many of his regulars moving on to their own projects without him (The Green Hornet, Your Highness, etc.)

But for Apatow, the break period is over. He is currently casting his newest film, and Bridesmaids is due May 13. He’s also producing the Pee-Wee Herman film – which is in pre-production – and has scores of other films and projects that are in development. Ultimately, Apatow’s break from the big screen may have had more to do with scheduling or possibly even just wanting to take a breather more than anything outside pressures. That said, the Apatow brand was becoming so prodigious that it was inevitable it would have to recede a little.

Are you happy for the return of Apatow?

Albert Brooks To Star In New Judd Apatow Film?

traviswoods — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:19:10 +0000

Yesterday, we reported that Megan Fox was set to bring her box office poison unique charm to the set of Judd Apatow’s new film, starring as a yet to be detailed character. Today, it seems, someone with actual comedic talent and chops a little more familiar to the comedy world is now in negotiations to join the cast—Albert Brooks.

According to /Film, the movie, which centers around Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann’s unhappily married couple from Knocked Up, is set for release on June 1, 2012. Brooks, like Fox, would be playing an as yet undetermined role—but, considering this is an Apatow film, I’m guessing that he’ll play a mentor-like father to Rudd, who occasionally smokes pot but is still fairly grounded, and gives his wild, permanently-adolescent son the advice he needs to finally mature and be the man his wife deserves. I can’t swear to it, but since that seems to be the general Apatow model for films, I’m guessing it’s not far off, either. Either that or everyone will just give up and point the camera at Seth Rogan and just let him grumble and giggle for two hours straight (which, yeah, I’d probably pay to watch).

What do you think of Albert Brooks in a Judd Apatow film?

Megan Fox May Join Latest Apatow Comedy

Damon Houx — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:23:25 +0000

Megan Fox seemed to be teetering on the edge of fame for a couple months. After Fox was let go from Transformers 3 it was hard to know if the actress’s career could recover. Sure, she could model, but who was going to take her seriously as an actress? Now word comes from The Hollywood Reporter that one of those people is Judd Apatow. Fox is now in negotiations to star in Apatow’s next film, which will star Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.

Megan Fox – even at her best – has been cast as the hot girl. To be fair, she can’t exactly pull of the “cute neighbor with glasses” routine, but her career has been defined by her work in the Michael Bay Transformer movies. A role that could be described as: “look sexy, run.” After that, she was in films like How to Lose Friends & Alienate People and Jennifer’s Body, films which played on the fact that she was incredibly hot. And then there’s Jonah Hex…

It’s worth noting this when talking about Fox’s range, as she’s never been asked to have much, and if her emotional commitment may have been lacking in the Transformers movies (she was functional, above competent), it seems a byproduct of the movies. Being a star and an attractive women sometimes puts you in a box, much as did Marilyn Monroe (someone Fox has tattooed on herself).

Who’s to say what Apatow has in mind for Fox, but she showed some wit in Jennifer’s Body, and seems self-aware, but has yet to have a great role. Between this and the upcoming Friends with Kids – which co-stars Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig – perhaps she’s redefining herself as a comic hottie.

Megan Fox: Do you think she’s a movie star or magazine cover icon?

Judd Apatow Reunites Rudd and Mann for Knocked Up Spin-Off

Krystal Clark — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:14:10 +0000

Judd Apatow is gearing up for his next directorial project following 2009′s Funny People. According to reports, he plans to reunite his Knocked Up co-stars Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann for a spin-off that features their characters Pete and Debbie. Previously, it was thought to be either a prequel or a sequel but it’s neither.

In Knocked Up, Mann played the older sister of Katherine Heigl’s pregnant character. She had two children (played by her real life daughters with Apatow) and was married to Rudd’s character Pete. Throughout the majority of the movie their relationship is strained and they deal with issues of trust, communication, and responsibility in a way that only Apatow could write it.

Apatow will once again pen this script, which will feature an original story surrounding the characters. The film is expected to hit theaters on June 1, 2012.

To be completely honest, we’re not sure how we feel about Apatow doing spin-offs. With the exception of Funny People, we loved his previous scripts for The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up as solo and original efforts. He typically uses the same actors in his films, so why not use them again but create new characters?

Would you be interested in seeing a feature based on Pete and Debbie?

Source: Variety

Judd Apatow’s Next Movie Release Date Announced

Krystal Clark — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:58:35 +0000

Universal Pictures has just made a big announcement regarding go-to comedic director Judd Apatow. The helmer has been laying low ever since the release of his 2009 dark comedy Funny People, which took on the serious subject matter of cancer. The film received mixed reviews and wasn’t nearly as successful as its predecessor Knocked Up but he’s still getting back into the saddle with another feature.

According to the studio we’ll see another Apatow film in theaters on June 1, 2012. In other words the movie will debut during the summer of The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and Spider-Man. That’s a lot of pressure! At the moment, no plot details have been revealed for the film nor has an official title been released. All we know for sure is that Apatow will direct, write the screenplay, and also produce the project that goes by the name Untitled Judd Apatow Comedy.

Besides those previous films that we just mentioned, Apatow will directly go up against the sequel Men in Black III, which is scheduled to hit theaters on May 25, 2012 and Pixar’s John Carter of Mars, which is set for June 8, 2012.

Are you excited to see another Judd Apatow movie hit the big screen?

Source: Coming Soon

Judd Apatow Developing New Pee-wee Herman Movie

Krystal Clark — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:53:54 +0000

Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman has slowly but surely returned to the forefront with his famous alter-ego. He started out small with a few local Los Angeles productions of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” before getting cleared for a Broadway run that will begin this October. While you’re waiting for the comedian to hit the stage in New York, you should prepare yourself for an even bigger event: Pee-wee’s headed to a theater near you — again!

According to Variety, Reubens has joined forces with producer, writer, and director Judd Apatow for a new Pee-Wee Herman movie. Reubens along with Paul Rust are currently working on the script that Apatow will produce through his Apatow Prods. The duo decided to make the feature after Apatow saw Herman’s show in LA last winter.

Over the past year Reubens has managed to redeem the character and reinstate his presence in pop culture and there’s more to come. The first time Pee-wee appeared on the big screen it was for Tim Burton’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure back in 1985. It will be interesting to see how much his comedy and the audience has changed over the course of 25 years.

No director is has been attached to the new film but when they are we’ll let you know.

Are you excited to see Pee-wee Herman on the big screen again?

Judd Apatow And Paul Feig Reunite

Krystal Clark — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:31:18 +0000

If you were a fan of the 1999 cult classic series, “Freaks and Geeks” you’re familiar with the teaming of Judd Apatow and Paul Feig. The duo created and wrote the show that launched some of today’s most notable young stars. Since the ten years that have passed, Apatow’s movie career has skyrocketed but Feig’s has remained somewhat stationary. According to THR, a project has come along that will unite these career-crossed writers and “SNL‘s” Kristen Wiig will be caught in the middle of it.

According to the trade, they’ll re-team for an untitled Universal wedding comedy that will have Wiig starring in the lead role. The actress also wrote the script for the film that will center on two women fighting for the right to plan their best friend’s wedding party. Originally, Apatow was courting “Flight of the Conchords” creator James Bobin as the possible director for the film, but he decided to take on the long awaited Muppet movie instead. That left the job wide open for someone else’s taking, cue Paul Feig.

The next time you watch Apatow’s 2007 comedy Knocked Up, pay close attention to the “Fantasy Baseball” scene with Paul Rudd. Feig is the guy next to the white board who objects when Leslie Mann enters the room. “Freaks and Geeks” not only kick started the careers of Apatow and Feig, but it also worked wonders for Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jason Segel who have all become popular film stars.

Do you think Apatow and Feig can bring their comedic antics to the big screen? Do you think the film will be a hit?

Judd Apatow Picks Up 3 Pitches

Krystal Clark — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:31:07 +0000

Judd Apatow has played an important role in kick-starting the careers of many actors including James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and to an extent Steve Carell. The writer/producer/director may do the same for comedian Aziz Ansari and director Jason Woliner. The trio recently had a meeting where Ansari and Woliner pitched three projects to Apatow for development and he wanted to work on all them.

According to Variety, Ansari will star in all three films with Woliner directing, and Apatow and Universal producing. Out of the three projects only one has a working title and its called Let’s Do This. It will be a road movie about two guys who work for a motivational speaking company. The second film is about a disgraced cosmonaut who is forced to return to outer space to clear his name, and the third stems from Ansari’s supporting role in the Apatow-helmed comedy Funny People.

Ansari has had a successful couple of years with appearances on the MTV sketch comedy show Human Giant, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and his current gig on NBC’s Parks & Recreations. The comedian had no idea that Apatow would be interested in developing all three of their projects when they pitched to him.

“We didn’t expect all three to work,” said Ansari. “We had a breakfast meeting with Judd and pitched them. We were like, ‘Which one do you like?’ He wanted all three.”

This is a smart move on Apatow’s part, because Ansari is a talented guy who’s due for a big break. He has potential to go far in this business, he just needs the right outlet to show his stuff.

What do you think of Apatow picking up pitches from Ansari and Woliner?

Judd Apatow Talks Anchorman 2

Krystal Clark — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:10:12 +0000

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has to be one of my favorite movies. The 2004 Judd Apatow produced film featured Will Ferrell as the title character, based in 1970′s San Diego. Ever since the infamous “alley fight,” fans have wanted to see more from Ron, Brian, Champ, and Brick. Over at Empire they spoke to Apatow himself about the prospect of bringing the news team together for one more broadcast.

Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay have been stringing us along for years in regards to a potential follow up to the news based comedy. When Empire caught up with Apatow they thought it would be a good time to get some dirt on the sequel.

“They’re making a movie now, Will and Adam,” said Apatow, referring to the duo’s cop comedy, The Other Guys. “But I guess it’s a little bit more a possibility than it was a year ago, when it wasn’t being discussed at all.When we made Anchorman, Adam and Will had a lot of ideas about what the sequel would be – they’d always laugh about where they’d take the characters.”

This is what led to the fun stuff. What if Ron and the crew were old bags still doing the same jobs, but with a geriatric twist?

According to Apatow, “The great thing is, Will can be any age and play that character. Those anchormen sometimes have their jobs until they’re 75 years old. So we would always laugh that this movie could work if everybody’s really elderly.”

Even though I’d love to see them in their current state, I’ll give the senior citizen take a chance if it has a decent script attached to it. I need my Brian Fantana, and his panther cologne that smells like a dirty diaper and Indian food! If we can keep that spirit alive in the new film, I’ll be there!

How would you feel about an old Ron Burgundy?

Weekend Box Office: Sandler and Apatow Barely Make It

Mali Elfman — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:43:12 +0000

Overall, this was a rather slow weekend for cinemas. We were right in our our box office predictions — Funny People was not able to break past the dreaded $30 million mark that both Apatow and Sandler seem to be fighting these days. It did however manage to come in at number one at the box office and my guess is that it will be one of those comedies that hangs around for a while.

As for kiddie comedies – It looks like Aliens in the Attic didn’t do too great. Apparently all the kids are more inclined to kung-fu guinea pigs (G-Force) than a group of kids taking on alien invaders that make their grandma do crazy things.

Check out the numbers below…

Funny People | New | Weekend Gross 23,440,000 | Average per Theater $7,793 | Total Gross $23,440,000 | Production Cost $75 | Week 1
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | LW 2 | Weekend Gross $17,700,000 | Average per Theater $4,029 | Total Gross $255,463,000 | Production Cost $250 | Week 3
G-Force | LW 1 | Weekend Gross $17,058,000 | Average per Theater $4,614 | Total Gross $66,461,000 | Week2
The Ugly Truth | LW 3 | Weekend Gross $13,000,000 | Average per Theater $4,511 | Total Gross $54,481,000 | Production Cost $38 | Week 2
Aliens in the Attic | New | Weekend Gross $7,800,000 | Average per Theater $2,511 | Total Gross $7,800,000 | Production Cost $45 | Week 1
Orphan | LW 4 | Weekend Gross $7,250,000 | Average per Theater $2,636 | Total Gross $26,791,000 | Week 2
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | LW 5 | Weekend Gross $5,300,000 | Average per Theater $1,922 | Total Gross $181,843,000 | Production Cost $90 | Week 5
The Hangover | LW 7 | Weekend Gross $5,080,000 | Average per Theater $2,453 | Total Gross $255,776,000 | Production Cost $35 | Week 9
The Proposal | LW 8 | Weekend Gross $4,848,000 | Average per Theater $1,991 | Total Gross $148,882,000 | Production Cost $40 | Week 7
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | LW 6 | Weekend Gross $4,600,000 | Average per Theater $1,752 | Total Gross $388,101,000 | Production Cost $200 | Week 6

No huge surprises here. Harry Potter has officially made back what it spent and from here on out, everyone will be rolling in the money.

And as a small little side-note on the films I’ve been keeping an eye on, Moon, has made, $3,915,000, which is almost what it cost to make and the film is still spreading to more and more thesters each week. As for the two newly released films I was rooting for this weekend, The Cove and Thist both made under $100,000. Not so great in terms of numbers, but the buzz coming out of all three films has been great! If you can find them, go and see them!

ScreenCrave.com » Judd Apatow

News Roundup: Clint Eastwood, Barbara Walters, Judd Apatow’s Girls, and More

New Trailers:

Related Posts

Bridesmaids Interview with Kristen Wiig, Judd Apatow and Paul Feig

Related Posts

Judd Apatow to Produce Do Gooders

Related Posts

Albert Brooks To Star In New Judd Apatow Film?

Related Posts

Megan Fox May Join Latest Apatow Comedy

Related Posts

Judd Apatow Reunites Rudd and Mann for Knocked Up Spin-Off

Related Posts

Judd Apatow’s Next Movie Release Date Announced

Related Posts

Judd Apatow Developing New Pee-wee Herman Movie

Related Posts

Judd Apatow And Paul Feig Reunite

Related Posts

Judd Apatow Picks Up 3 Pitches

Related Posts

Judd Apatow Talks Anchorman 2

Related Posts

Weekend Box Office: Sandler and Apatow Barely Make It

Related Posts