News has been slooooowly trickling out about Judd Apatow's directorial follow-up to Knocked Up -- or maybe it just seems like it because there's so much curiosity about the project. Back in March we knew literally nothing other than that it would star Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler, and Apatow's wife Leslie Mann. At the start of the month, Rogen and Sandler revealed the movie would be set in "the world of stand-up comedy," and that it would have serious dramatic elements. A few days after that, we heard rumors that Eric Bana was circling a role in the film. Today, Apatow's people officially made public the film's title -- Funny People -- and the rest of the ensemble cast: Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman and, unsurprisingly, Jonah Hill. Since people will be doing double-takes when they read "Eric Bana," the Variety article takes pains to point out that Bana began his career in stand-up comedy, and even starred in a pair of sketch comedy series in Australia, before breaking out in Chopper. I had heard that before, but since Bana seemingly hasn't cracked a smile in his entire film career, it remains very weird to me.
No new plot details were revealed, so expect another post in a couple of days when someone decides to let slip another tidbit.
1. Obviously you haven't seen Chopper, because it was hilarious and brilliant thanks to Bana carrying the movie.
Posted at 9:27AM on Jun 12th 2008 by Ron