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Pegg and Frost Talk Universal Road Comedy Paul and Tintin

Working Title co-chief Eric Fellner looked anxious before Universal's Comic-Con panel for Paul, an alien road-trip comedy reteaming Simon Pegg and his Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz co-star Nick Frost, as co-writers and co-stars. Seth Rogen voices the friendly alien that the two sci-fi geeks encounter after they leave Comic-Con for a road tour through Area 51. Sigourney Weaver, Jeffrey Tambor, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman and Jon Hader lend support. Director Greg Mottolla (Superbad) grabbed some exterior shots at the Con last year, but largely restaged the mammoth San Diego event with extras in Albuquerque. (According to Frost, when they asked if they could shoot inside the real Con, the fire marshall said, "no fucking way.")

By Anne Thompson
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August 2, 2010 7:15 AM
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It's deja vu all over again at Comic-Con.

By Anne Thompson
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July 29, 2010 7:45 AM
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This Means War Casting Saga, WGA vs. IMDb, Boyle directs Olympics, Fairy Tales are New Vampires

- McG can't make up his mind on casting vidgame-to-film This Means War. While Reese Witherspoon is set to play the femme at the center of a dispute between two spies--best friends turned enemies in this action-comedy--the two male leads are up in the air. In-demand Bradley Cooper has bailed on the role originally intended for Martin Lawrence, while Seth Rogen and Chris Pine were both reported as attached at some point. Now Vulture asserts that McG has offered his Terminator Salvation star Sam Worthington the lead. The Playlist, which has been tracking the This Means War casting saga, writes that Justin Timberlake was being considered for the film, and filmmakers may go to Colin Farrell if Worthington is a no-go.

By Sophia Savage
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June 17, 2010 3:40 AM
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1 Comment

Summit Talks Eclipse Reshoots, Sony Denies Bad Hornet Rumors

Pity the studio corporate flacks who have to keep straightening out the rumors that hit the internet--especially big-name movies that will build traffic as they spread like kudzu. For example, IESB reported that Sony Pictures is apparently "displeased with the results" they've seen so far of Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet film adaptation, citing claims that the "tone is too campy, they're not happy with the work from director Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen does not look the part. At all. In fact, the feeling at Sony is the movie is a disaster."

By Anne Thompson
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April 14, 2010 12:43 PM
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5 Comments

SXSW: Hill and Rogen Talk Observe and Report

Monday morning I interviewed Observe and Report writer-director Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way) and star Seth Rogen. The movie played well on Monday night at the Paramount. It's a very dark reality-based comedy about fantasy and self-delusion, basically. The flipcam interview is broken into two parts: