After decades of dominating at the box office and taking the action genre to new heights time and time again, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made his small-screen debut with the new action-comedy, FUBAR. The 2023 Netflix TV show, which follows his character as he teams up with his daughter to take on a common enemy, brings with it a lot of great actors and actresses, even when not counting the Governator. 

If you just watched the new Netflix title, or plan on checking it out in the near future, there’s a good chance that you’re wondering where you’ve seen the FUBAR cast before. Well, buckle up, because we’re about to break down all the stars and why they look so familiar. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Luke Brunner)

Leading the FUBAR cast is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who takes on the role of veteran CIA operative Luke Brunner.

Though this is his first TV series, the actor is one of the most recognizable faces in all of Hollywood thanks to appearances in some of the best action movies of all time. With films like Kindergarten Cop, Last Action Hero, True Lies, and the Terminator franchise, it’s easy to see why he has remained a leading Hollywood figure the past 40+ years. 

Monica Barbaro (Emma Brunner)

Monica Barbaro shows up on FUBAR as Emma Brunner, Luke’s daughter who initially has no idea that her father is also a CIA operative before getting put on a mission together.

If you were a fan of Top Gun: Maverick, then you’ll certainly recognize Barbaro from her portrayal of Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, one of the breakout stars of the long-awaited Tom Cruise sequel. Fans of the One Chicago franchise might also remember Barbaro from her take on Assistant State’s Attorney Anna Valdez on Chicago P.D. and Chicago Justice a few years ago. Barbaro’s other small-screen appearances include shows like The Good Cop, Splitting Up Together, and Stumptown.

Fabiana Udenio (Tally Brunner)

Fabiana Udenio takes on the role of Tally Brunner, Luke’s ex-wife, on FUBAR.

Fans of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery will have a blast from the past with FUBAR, as Udenio famously played Alotta Fagina in the 1997 spy comedy. Over the years, Udenio has also appeared in movies like In the Army Now, The Wedding Planner, and Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas. She has also made multiple TV appearances throughout her career, including shows like Jane the Virgin, the 2008 reboot of 90210, and several others. 

Jay Baruchel (Carter)

Next up is Jay Baruchel, who joins the cast as Carter, Emma’s boyfriend, whose relationship is thrown into disarray due to the whole CIA situation.

Whether it’s his spot in the Knocked Up cast, his lead role in the various How to Train Your Dragon movies, or the end-of-the-world comedy This is the End, there are plenty of reasons why he looks so familiar. Over the years, Baruchel has also popped up on TV shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Undeclared, Man Seeking Woman, and even a couple of episodes of Letterkenny. 

Gabriel Luna (Boro) 

Though he played a more noble character on HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation earlier in 2023, Gabriel Luna’s character, Boro, is anything but on FUBAR.

Outside of his portrayal of Tommy on the sci-fi hit, Luna’s other notable performances include turns in movies like Terminator: Dark Fate (where he co-starred alongside Schwarzenegger), Bernie, and Hala. If you were a fan of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., then chances are you’ll recognize Luna from his portrayal of Robbie Reyes, a.k.a., Ghost Rider. 

Aparna Brielle (Tina) 

Tina, the analyst who joins Luke Brunner on his undercover mission throughout FUBAR, is portrayed by Aparna Brielle.

Despite having not been in the TV game for all that long (her first small-screen appearance was in a 2014 episode of Grimm), Brielle has been quite busy over the course of the past few years. This includes major roles on shows like A.P. Bio, starring It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia mainstay Glenn Howerton, and the 2022 Netflix comedy, Boo-Bitch. She also made a brief appearance in the 2019 Kevin Smith movie, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. 

Andy Buckley (Donnie) 

Andy Buckley, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Dunder MIfflin CFO (and later CEO) David Wallace, shows up as Donnie, Tally’s partner.

Outside of being a part of The Office cast, Buckley has appeared on TV comedies like Veep, Casual, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Shameless, Arrested Development, and American Dad. His film appearances include movies like Jurassic World, A Million Little Pieces, Bombshell, Horrible Bosses 2, and The Other Guys, to name a few. 

Fortune Feimster (Roo)

Fortune Feimster pops up as Roo, another core member of Luke and Emma’s team of undercover agents, one who especially provides some of the show’s biggest laughs.

Since making her small-screen debut on the 2010 competition series Last Comic Standing, Feimster has gone on to become one of the most recognizable faces in the world of standup comedy, and comedy in general. With multiple Netflix standup specials, appearances on talks shows like Chelsea Lately and competitions like RuPaul’s Drag Race, Feimster’s been a little bit of everywhere the past decade. She has also had recurring roles on shows like Bless the Hearts, Life in Pieces, and The Mindy Project over the years.

Those who watched Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar once, twice, or countless times, will probably recognize Feimster from the surprising 2021 comedy.  

Milan Carter (Barry)

Milan Carter appears as Barry, the tech-wiz in Luke’s group of undercover secret agents.

Prior to joining the cast, Carter made appearances in movies like Dolemite is My Name, and various TV shows such as The Neighborhood, Warped!, and Runaways. 

Travis Van Winkle (Aldon)

And then there is Travis Van Winkle, who plays Aldon, a secret agent who has a major crush on Emma.

Throughout his career, Van Winkle has appeared on shows like The O.C., Two and a Half Men, The Last Ship, and Hart of Dixie, but fans of You, a.k.a., one of the best Netflix series, will immediately recognize him from his portrayal of Cary Conrad. Over the years, the actor has also popped up in movies like Transformers, Last Call, and the 2009 Friday the 13th remake. 

You can watch all of FUBAR, along with scores of other great TV shows and movies, right now with your Netflix subscription. And if you want to see what’s on the horizon for the streaming service (and various other channels), take a look at our 2023 TV schedule.

Stream FUBAR on Netflix.

Things have been relatively quiet when it comes to Netflix's still-untitled spy series, which is set to be headlined by action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though there have been few updates since the show was announced in 2020, Schwarzenegger has still been hyping up his new show during Yellowstone viewings. And now, TV watchers are sure to be very pumped, as it's been reported that notable names from beloved shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Office will be joining the Terminator actor on the production.

This marks the action star’s first significant live-action TV role since his pre-Conan the Barbarian acting days, and it appears he'll be surrounded by some top-notch comedic and dramatic talent. Variety reports that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Ghost Rider actor Gabriel Luna, The Office’s Andy Buckley, and How to Train Your Dragon’s Jay Baruchel have been tapped as series regulars. The stars will be joined by Aparna Brielle, Milan Carter, Fortune Feimster, Barbara Eve Harris, Fabiana Udenio, and Travis Van Winkle. Also, Devon Bostick, David Chinchilla, Rachel Lynch, Stephanie Sy, and Scott Thompson will appear in recurring roles in the series.

The show follows father Luke (played by the Twins icon) and his daughter, Emma (portrayed by Top Gun: Maverick star Monica Barbaro), who learn that they've both been working as CIA operatives for years without the other knowing.  The series will see the father and daughter deal with the life-changing reveals while continuing with their espionage work.

A portion of the newly revealed characters are associated with the father and daughter's professional lives. Aparna Brielle,  Milan Carter, Fortune Feimster, Barbara Eve Harris, and Travis Van Winkle will play members of the duo’s CIA family. Harris will play their intimidating regional CIA director, Dot, who also oversees Brielle’s young and capable NSA analyst, Tina, Feimster’s snarky CIA officer, Roo, and Van Winkle’s sweet-natured CIA officer, Aldon. Another office under her watch will be Luke’s close and mysterious confidant, Barry, played by Milan Carter. Scott Thompson also stars as Luke and Emma’s psychologist, Dr. Louis Pfeffer, who attempts to help them mend their relationship.

On the personal front, Fabiana Udenio will play Luke's ex-wife, Tally, who’s completely in the dark about her daughter and former hubby's exploits, and Andy Buckley plays her easy-going boyfriend Donnie, who suspects there are still sparks between the exes. Meanwhile, Jay Baruchel is set to play Emma’s sweet kindergarten teacher boyfriend Carter, who slowly learns about his lady’s spy life. Devon Bostick will star as Luke and Tally’s app-developing son, Oscar, with Stephanie Sy and Rachel Lynch playing his wife Sandy and daughter Romi, respectively.

And Gabriel Luna will provide an antagonist for the two lead characters in the form of the Oxford-educated arms dealer Boro. The villain will be joined by his intimidating sidekick, Cain Khan, played by David Chinchilla. So all in all, this project has assembled quite a roster of talent.

One would think that Netflix has quite a bit of confidence in the upcoming series, based on the sheer amount of talent it's recruited. The premise sounds exciting and the characters all seem interesting in their own respects. Hopefully, the pieces come together so that Arnold Schwarzenegger's first major TV show is indeed an exciting piece of work.

A release window has yet to be announced for the show but, regardless, you'll want to be sure you have a Netflix subscription so that you can watch when it arrives.  In the meantime, you can check out some of the best shows on Netflix right now. And of course, here are other new and returning shows premiering in 2022.

2007’s Knocked Up was really the comedy that propelled Seth Rogen's performing career to the next level before he went on to star in more of his memorable movies such as Pineapple Express, This Is the End and Neighbors. As the movie approaches its 15-year anniversary, the actor has talked one moment in the movie that he recalls as being “fucked up,” especially for his co-star Jay Baruchel. 

Seth Rogen was asked about a scene in Knocked Up where he and the cast go to Knott’s Berry Farm together. There are moments that see the actors, also including Jason Segel and Martin Starr, riding roller coasters at the California theme park. Jay Baruchel looks visibly freaked out, and rumor has it the whole cast threw up that day from all the ride riding. Rogen shared what it was really like with these words:  

As it turns out, Jay Baruchel had an actual phobia of roller coasters and had to be seriously talked into going on one with the cast for the scene in the movie. He rode it once, but according to Rogen, he was having a “full-on panic attack” and refused to ride it for the other takes. Rogen, Segel and the rest of the cast, however, had to go back on the ride multiple times, leading to some serious barf bag moments and overall an unwell, but now iconic, Knocked Up cast. 

Seth Rogen recently spoke about the fateful day of Knocked Up Hot Ones while rocking his new look he recently debuted that sees him without a beard or much of his hair. The day was actually immortalized for some bonus features of the film. You can see what went down for yourself thanks to Universal Pictures' behind-the-scenes footage: 

As you can see, Jay Baruchel was not having a good time on that roller coaster, and right after riding it, he shared that he had a “major freak out” on the ride and the look of fear on his face was completely “genuine.” Later in the video, Segel and Rogen are seen vomiting into multiple barf bags from all the roller coaster fun. Writer/director Judd Apatow seemed completely unscathed by it in contrast. 

Despite the rough day, Jay Baruchel was a good sport and undoubtedly continues a great working relationship with Rogen today, and even welcomes the idea of sequels with the actor. Among Seth Rogen’s many upcoming projects is Pam & Tommy, a limited series about the 1995 sex scandal between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. Pam & Tommy premieres on February 2, which you can watch with a Hulu subscription. 

Take one look at the poster for 2007’s hit comedy, Knocked Up, which features a young Seth Rogen, and you will see the face of a man who has just begun to put in so much of the work which has made him the comedy legend he is today. Seth Rogen has been working nonstop ever since the release of Knocked Up, which also featured an all-star cast including Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill, as well as many other notable names.

It’s actually kind of crazy to believe the power of Judd Apatow’s second directorial effort, as it kind of changed the entire landscape of American comedies for a while. Predating 2009’s, The Hangover, Knocked Up nailed the immature dudes who are slowly, painfully learning to mature, and the women who, unfortunately, have to deal with them. Katherine Heigl famously (infamously?) once made comments about how she viewed the film as possibly being sexist toward women, and in 2021, it feels like there’s a bit more credence to her claims. But, if anything, Knocked Up is a great time capsule of the late aughts. So, here is what those fresh and young faces are currently doing.

Seth Rogen (Ben Stone)

As mentioned in the intro, I mean, jeez, what hasn’t Seth Rogen had a hand in over the years? Actor, producer, writer, director...Seth Rogen pretty much does it all in the industry. On the directorial side, he’s co-directed This Is the End, which starred quite a few people who were also in Knocked Up. He also co-directed the super controversial The Interview, which put us in an iffy place with North Korea back in 2014, and most recently, a short film in 2017 called Bananas Town, all with his frequent partner, Evan Goldberg. He also produced most of those films, and helped write all of them.

On the acting side, he’s been in seemingly everything since Knocked Up. Some of the most notable films include, Pineapple Express, Zak and Miri Make a Porno, Funny People, voicing Mantis in the Kung-Fu Panda series, voicing a hot dog in Sausage Party, the first assistant director, Sandy Schklair in The Disaster Artist (which is likely the last time we’ll ever see him work with James Franco), voicing Pumbaa in the live-action Lion King, and, most recently, as a Jewish immigrant in the comedy drama, An American Pickle. Next up, he’ll play the “favorite uncle” in a semi-autobiographical Steven Spielberg film. He’ll also have a hand at rebooting my beloved Ninja Turtles. So, yes, he’s been a very busy man.

Katherine Heigl (Alison Scott)

As mentioned earlier, the former Grey’s Anatomy star has had a lot of ups and downs since her comments about Knocked Up being “sexist.” Film-wise, she’s been keeping relatively busy. She starred in 27 Dresses, The Ugly Truth, and One For the Money, to some success, but she's mostly shifted her focus to TV since then. She received a Razzie nomination for her role in Home Sweet Hell as Mona Champagne back in 2015, and her most recent role was as Michelle Burroughs in a psychological thriller titled Fear of Rain.

TV has been a bit better for the actress, as she’s had leading roles in State of Affairs, Doubt, Suits, and most recently, the Netflix show Firefly Lane, where she plays a daytime talk show host named Tully Hart. It's since been renewed for a second season, which will air in 2022. She is also slated to play women’s suffrage leader, Victoria Woodhull, in a miniseries aptly titled, Woodhull.

Paul Rudd (Pete)

Paul Rudd, who would later star in a Knocked Up spin-off, This Is 40, alongside Leslie Mann, has also been keeping super busy since Knocked Up. On the television side, the former Mike Hannigan of Friends fame was on Veronica Mars, voiced three different roles on The Simpsons, had a recurring role on Parks and Recreation as Bobby Newport, and will also be a voice on the upcoming What If…? Disney+ series.

Film-wise, he’s been in lots of stuff, too, most notably Role Models, I Love You, Man alongside Knocked Up star, Jason Segel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and probably, most famously, as Scott Lang, a.k.a., Ant-Man in the MCU. Next up, the actor will be Mr. Grooberson in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and then as Ant-Man again in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. So, phew. Still very hard at work.

Jonah Hill (Jonah)

Jonah Hill has had a really interesting career since Knocked Up, most notably being nominated twice for Academy Awards for his supporting roles in Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street. Most interestingly, though, might be the fact that you really can’t pin this man down in any specific role anymore. He’s also directed the highly underappreciated movie, Mid90s, which, as a '90s kid, really spoke to me as a viewer.

TV wise, Jonah Hill did the animated Fox Show, Allen Gregory, as well as roles on The Simpsons, Reno 911! And Curb Your Enthusiasm. Film-wise, he’s been ubiquitous, as he’s been in films like Superbad, Cyrus, the voice of Snotlout Jorgenson in the How to Train Your Dragon series alongside Knocked Up star, Jay Baruchel, both 21 Jump Street movies, as well as War Dogs and many others. His next project will be the dark comedy Don’t Look Up, which will be coming to Netflix. Whatever Jonah Hill does, I’m there. He’s a great actor!

Leslie Mann (Debbie)

Judd Apatow’s real-life wife (as nearly everybody knows, and those are their two children in Knocked Up), Leslie Mann, like everybody else, has been keeping busy. On the TV side, she did seven episodes on Jonah Hill’s animated series, Allen Gregory. She also did a voice role on The Simpsons, and was a narrator on Makers: Women Who Make America. Those last two were back in 2014.

On the film side, she’s done much more recent work. She was in Drillbit Taylor, the animated franchise, Rio 1 and its sequel, Vacation as Rusty’s sister, Audrey Griswold-Crandall, and, most recently, as the voice of Hope Betterman in The Croods: A New Age. Her next project will have her working with her husband again for his next movie, The Bubble. Looking forward to it.

Jay Baruchel (Jay)

Jay Baruchel, who made his TV debut on Are You Afraid of the Dark? and also had a role on the immensely underappreciated sitcom, Undeclared (I’m sorry, I know these came before Knocked Up, but I feel like I’ll never get to talk about those shows if I don’t mention them now!) hasn’t been seen as frequently as some of the other films’ stars, but he’s had a fascinating career as well.

He’s probably most known as the voice of Huccup in the How to Train Your Dragon series. But, he’s also been in Tropic Thunder, She’s Out of My League, Goon (he directed the sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers), This is the End, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the 2019 slasher, Random Actors of Violence, which he also produced and directed. He also wrote the book, Born Into It: A Fan’s Life, where he writes about his fandom of the Montreal Canadiens. His last project was the starring role on the TV show, The Moodys, which was just recently cancelled. We’ll be keeping a look out for whatever he has next in store for us.

Jason Segel (Jason)

Jason Segel, like quite a few stars in Knocked Up, got his start on the cult comedy, Freaks and Geeks, and he’s been going pretty strong ever since. He’s probably most known for his role in the How I Met Your Mother cast as Marshall Eriksen, but I’m sure you’ve seen him around in several other things as well, most notably (here it comes again) Undeclared, but more recently, the AMC show, Dispatches from Elsewhere.

Film-wise, he was in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man, The Muppets, Sex Tape (I never thought I would type the words “The Muppets” and “Sex Tape” so close together, but there you have it), and 2019’s Our Friend. His next theatrical project is the movie, The Sky Is Everywhere, which is based off of a novel of the same name. So, yeah. Muppets Sex Tape. That's now a thing in my head.

Charlyne Yi (Jodi)

Charlyne Yi is always popping up in pretty much everything I watch. Following Knocked Up, she was in Cloverfield, Semi-Pro, the EXCELLENT Paper Heart, in a voice role for the Netflix animated movie, Next Gen (which my son loves, by the way), Trolls: World Tour, which my kids both loved and hated, and was most recently a voice in The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which we haven’t watched yet, but will.

She’s also done a lot of TV work, like Steven Universe, Twin Peaks, when it was brought back, Lucifer, Good Girls, and the HBO Max original series, Tig n’ Seek in a voice role. We’ll be keeping track on how anything else the actress has in store for us next develops.

In the end, Knocked Up was the little comedy that could. The film, perhaps unsurprisingly, has left a lasting legacy, and it still ranks up there as one of the best comedies of the earlier 2000s. But, if you’re looking for more recent films, like say, this year, then make sure to check out our list of 2021 movies. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find the next Knocked Up on that list.

Remember doing group projects in school? It was my favorite because I could pair up with friends and hang out while we did our work. That’s basically what Seth Rogen, James Franco and more did for 2013’s This is the End, except they got paid millions of dollars and I just got yelled at by my teacher. Fans of the comedy may be wondering if there’s plans for a follow up film and Jay Baruchel recently shared his thoughts on joining a possible sequel.

In a recent interview the How to Train Your Dragon star reminisced on This is the End and entertained the idea of a sequel to the apocalyptic comedy. When asked about returning alongside the rest of the cast, he had this to say:

In his interview with Us Weekly, Baruchel noted that it would be difficult to get the original cast in the same room again, but it would be pretty easy to talk him into a sequel if the scheduling worked out.

This is the End featured an ensemble cast with most characters playing larger-than-life versions of themselves, including major celebrities such as Rhianna, Channing Tatum and even the Backstreet Boys. The inside-joke riddled comedy was helmed by long-time friends Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who teamed up to write and direct.

I, for one, would love to see a sequel to This is the End, but I’m also an absolute sucker for anything the Apatow influenced members of the ‘frat pack’ put out. While a follow-up film, perhaps set in Heaven, is always a possibility, I’m not sure that Seth Rogen would have the time considering the launch of his recent, completely on-brand, business venture.

While the idea of This is the End 2 is a pipe dream at the moment, it would no doubt be cool to see the old gang get back together. A number of the original cast members are currently busy with side projects, including Danny McBride, who has been busy with HBO’s Righteous Gemstones and a surprising involvement in the latest entries to John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise.

Who knows what that creative crew has in store for the next couple of years, I mean anything is possible. Rogen and Franco made a movie about assassinating Kim Jong-Un that threw the entire movie industry into controversy, after all. At least we know that Jay Baruchel is down. Quick, someone get on the phone with Backstreet Boys!

This past December, DC fans saw the legendary villain Maxwell Lord in a big screen blockbuster for the first time in Wonder Woman 1984, but what's interesting to remember from a historical perspective is that we almost saw that particular debut happen about a decade ago. When director George Miller was making Justice League Mortal, his plan was to feature Lord as the central villain, and he even got far enough into the process to hire Jay Baruchel to play the role.

Sadly that film never actually made it into production, but based on recent comments from Baruchel, his version of Maxwell Lord would have been quite freaky.

The actor-cum-filmmaker recently sat down with Variety to discuss his directorial debut, the thriller Random Acts Of Violence, and it was at the end of the interview that he was asked about Maxwell Lord and his thoughts on Pedro Pascal's Wonder Woman 1984 performance. Baruchel couldn't comment on the latter because he apparently hasn't watched the Patty Jenkins-directed DC Extended Universe blockbuster just yet, but he did have some interesting comments that definitely make his incarnation sound different than the one we saw:

It is worth mentioning that there is a point where Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord bursts a capillary in Wonder Woman 1984 as an extension of his physical need to grant the wishes of those around him, but beyond that it sounds like Jay Baruchel's version of the character from Justice League Mortal would have been very different – with the fact that he would have had the power of psychokinesis being interesting and a notable deviation from the comics.

Originally announced back in 2007, Justice League Mortal was originally planned as the first ever live-action film about the titular team, and it assembled a massive cast beyond just Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord – with D. J. Cotrona as Superman, Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Common as Green Lantern, Adam Brody as The Flash, and Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul. The production hit multiple set backs and delays, and the project was eventually cancelled altogether, but Baruchel certainly makes it sounds like it was an awesome thing to be a part of, even for a short time.

Discussing the limited time he had to work on Justice League Mortal and work with George Miller, Jay Baruchel described it like a fantasy – getting the opportunity to really dig into his craft alongside one of the great modern filmmakers. Said the actor/director,

Justice League Mortal will forever just have to live in our imaginations, the idea coming together in our minds through descriptions like these from those who were involved as well as the various pieces of concept art that have leaked out. Perhaps the concept could someday be turned into an animated film, but for now it's just fun for fans to hear details like this.

Most DC fans are aware of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a.k.a. the Snyder Cut, that’s currently underway and headed to HBO Max, but some may not know that Warner Bros. had previously tried to put together a Justice League movie back in 2007 called Justice League: Mortal, with George Miller at the helm. At the time, its cancellation was upsetting, and now one of the stars is explaining why.

While speaking with the Toronto Sun about his horror film Random Acts of Violence, Jay Baruchel, known for voicing Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon, shed a little more light on Justice League: Mortal, saying it had a great script that included a pretty heavy story. But Baruchel, who would have played lead villain Maxwell Lord in Mortal, also provided details about why it being dropped was so tough. When asked if fans will learn more about what could have been, here’s what he said:

Wow, it sounds like Jay Baruchel was handed a huge opportunity before having it stripped away from him. It makes perfect sense why that would give him a lump in his throat thinking about it. On top of that, an epic-sounding Justice League movie, directed by George Miller no less, was scrapped right as they were diving in headfirst. That's a double whammy.

Jay Baruchel isn’t alone in how he feels about the way Justice League: Mortal went down. Adam Brody, who recently appeared in Shazam! as the superhero version of Freddy Freeman, was supposed to play The Flash in Justice League: Mortal. He said “it still hurts,” and that the script was really good and the movie would’ve been a classic.

The way George Miller previously explained it, Justice League: Mortal derailed due to financial reasons. To make matters worse, there was a Writer’s Guild of America strike that delayed the production. It continued to see delays until WB finally canceled the project to focus on other movies, like Green Lantern.

It’s easy to wonder “what could have been” on this project. George Miller is a visionary filmmaker, full stop. I have little doubt he would have made this a movie to remember. Since Zack Snyder is getting to do his own version of Justice League, is it too much, too soon to ask George Miller to finish what he started as well?

UPDATE: Yep, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World officially had the best opening weekend of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. It topped the February 22-24 box office with $55,527,000. As you can see below, that is far and away the best of the trilogy.

Original post:

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the final film in the DreamWorks Animation trilogy, and it's looking like it could make the most money. You might think "Well, of course!" but up until just now it was looking like the opening weekend might be less than the first two films.

Box office tracking for How to Train Your Dragon 3 has been all over the map, and final opening weekend numbers won't come in until Sunday afternoon. There were initial predictions of around $40 million, which would be less than the previous two films. However, Deadline just updated that The Hidden World is heading toward the best debut of the trilogy with a $60 million domestic box office opening from 4,259 theaters. Variety was slightly more cautious, putting the opening around $53 million.

Either way, anything above $50 million would be a new franchise record.

Here are the previous opening weekends, and the total worldwide grosses (via Box Office Mojo) as combined from domestic (U.S./Canada) and foreign markets:

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has already made nearly $200 million at the foreign box office heading into this weekend. We'll have to wait for the full weekend numbers to come in to see where we stand, but if those new $50M-$60M domestic estimates hold, that would clearly be enough to take the record for best franchise opening. Could this film make the most money overall? It has to top $621.5 million for that, so we'll see.

Word of mouth has been very positive for How to Train Your Dragon 3, which has already opened to big bucks around the world and showed to critics and the lucky fans who packed early screenings and cried their eyes out. The movie currently has a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an Audience Score of 89%.

How to Train Your Dragon 3 concludes the adventures of Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup voice actor Jay Baruchel had said the film would leave fans sad but satisfied. He seemed satisfied and proud that the film has already gotten such a big emotional reaction from moviegoers. There's even talk that The Hidden World may have a chance at an Oscar this year, unless it loses once again to a Toy Story movie (or the Frozen sequel).

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is now playing in theaters, and however this weekend's box office shakes out, it sounds like it'll be more healthy than the ones we've seen so far in 2019. Speaking of 2019, bookmark our handy movie release date schedule to keep up with everything heading to the big screen.

Dreamworks Animation will be saying goodbye to arguably its best franchise ever, How to Train Your Dragon, in early 2019. The final movie in the trilogy is called How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. It's coming to theaters in February and -- as is often the case with finales -- fans are in for some tears. But they'll be good tears! Lead voice actor Jay Baruchel previewed how fans will feel by the end of the third movie:

How to Train Your Dragon follows young Viking leader Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and the close bond he shares with his dragon Toothless. Their friendship is the core of the whole series but the third film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, might be their ultimate test.

In the film, Hiccup and Toothless discover a hidden world of dragons. They are forced to battle a dangerous new enemy who seeks to destroy the peaceful human and dragon utopia they've built. The presence of a potential mate for Toothless also adds an interesting wrinkle to the mix.

It's been nearly nine years since the first film. The franchise has subsequently launched short movies, animated TV series, and sequels. The last film is just over the horizon and fans may want to get their tissues ready. Jay Baruchel -- who likewise will be saying goodbye to the franchise -- told GameSpot that the ending might be sad, but it will leave fans feeling satisfied.

We can only guess at the moment what that means, but fans might not be the only ones saying goodbye; Toothless and Hiccup could be parting ways as well. (Quietly holds back tears.)

Producer Brad Lewis echoed Jay Baruchel's statement, saying that the nature of a good finale is to leave the audience feeling torn between emotions:

All of this is to say that fans of the franchise should gear themselves up for one hell of a finale. In addition to playing up the sweetness and goofiness of the series, the trailers also lay down the stakes, and it'll be very interesting to see how this beloved franchise comes to a close.

Thankfully, we won't have to wait too long to see how it's all going to end. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is all set to release on February 22, 2019. To learn about all the other big movies set to arrive in theaters next year, be sure to visit our 2019 movie release schedule.

Almost a decade ago, How To Train Your Dragon flew into the lives of its fans, and the animation world was never the same. Now, with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, that series will take its final bow, leaving a pretty big hole for some lucky new franchise to fill. No one is more aware of this than its star, Jay Baruchel, as he shared the following thoughts about closing out the chronicles of Hiccup to CinemaBlend:

These remarks were part of a longer conversation that CinemaBlend had with Baruchel during the New York Comic-Con press line for How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. After seeing some selected clips, as well as the new trailer that'll be coming to the internet on October 25, it's not hard to see where he's coming from. Setting up the series' grand finale, it was easy to get emotional over our latest look at the final adventure of Hiccup and Toothless.

Just like his on screen surrogate, Jay Baruchel has been through quite a few adventures in the shared worlds of dragon and man. In addition to three feature films, a handful of short features and 118 episodes of Dreamworks' Dragons on Cartoon Network, Baruchel has stuck with Hiccup, and Toothless throughout eight years of adventure and excitement. And from the clips of footage shown at the How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World panel, that bittersweet goodbye will definitely be felt by the fans.

In the footage shown that day, not only was the hidden world of the film's title shown off, but it was also implied that Toothless is, or will shortly be confirmed as, the king of the dragons. This naturally leaves Hiccup and Astrid as outsiders, and while they're amazed at the world shown off in How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Hiccup comes to the quick realization that it's probably the end of the line for him and his dragon friend.

You can see some of that footage yourself, as Dreamworks released a short clip that samples from not only the new trailer, but also some of the clips shown at the panel:

Speaking with Jay Baruchel, his gratitude for what How To Train Your Dragon has given him is readily apparent. At the same time, you can sense the beginnings of sadness, as two of the best friends in animated history are going to go their separate ways. We'll get to see what happens next a little sooner, as How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has just been bumped up for a February 22, 2019 release date.

While we're just two months away from Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon's Justice League, this isn't the first time that the titular heroes have been planned to make their way to the silver screen. Mad Max director George Miller once developed a Justice League movie of his own, which would no doubt feature far more visceral and intense action sequences. Actor Jay Baruchel (This Is The End, Knocked Up) was set to play mind controlling villain Maxwell Lord in the flick, and recently revealed how Wonder Woman and Superman were going to have an absolutely brutal action sequence of their own, resulting in Superman breaking some Amazonian bones.

Holy crap, this sounds awesome, and not anything like what we should expect when Justice League hits theaters in November.

Jay Burachel's comments on the Happy Sad Confused podcast show what a wholly different type of movie George Miller would have crafted, if it didn't end up falling through. Without a shared universe to worry about, Miller had the ability to make as many bold and visceral choices as he wanted. This includes pitting two of the DC trinity against each other in a battle that actually had high stakes and serious consequences. Watching the nearly invincible Wonder Woman be brutalized by the Man of Steel would be unlike anything the fans were expecting, and could have brought an interesting color to the otherwise boring Superman.

Pitting Wonder Woman and Superman against each other also makes far more sense than the conflict in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Because while seeing Superman and Batman come to blows was an exciting concept, it's not exactly an even match. Batman had to use a variety of gadgets and kryptonite weapons to even the playing field, and even that felt a bit far fetched. But Diana Prince shares many of the same superpowers as the Kryptonian, so their battle would be epic.

Jay Burachel was set to play the villain Maxwell Lord, who has the powers of mind control in the DC comics. While he's able to occasionally influence people's minds, it causes him great physical pain often resulting in a nose bleed. This side affect was reportedly going to be utilized to gory affect when Maxwell Lord brain washed Superman into battling his friends. Instead of just a nose bleed, he was reportedly going to bleed from every orifice. This once again proves just how brutal George Miller's Justice League: Mortal would have been, if the writer's strike of 2007 didn't essentially destroy its chances.

The DCEU's Justice League will arrive in theaters on November 17, 2017. In the meantime, check out our 2017 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Back in 2011, Goon proved to be a rather big success, as it not only grossed $70 million but it also achieved impressive reviews, too, finishing with a score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Over the last five years Jay Baruchel, who co-wrote the original with Evan Goldberg, has been on a mission to make a sequel. We now finally get to see the fruits of Jay Baruchel's labour, because the first trailer for Goon: Last Of The Enforcers, which Baruchel is directing as well as co-writing, has now been released. And it looks rather promising.

Goon: Last Of The Enforcers (trailer courtesy of JoBlo) once again revolves around Doug 'The Thug' Glatt, with Seann William Scott reprising his role as the bruising ice hockey star. The original drew heavy inspiration from the antics of enforcers throughout hockey history, as well as Doug Smith and Adam Frattasio's book Goon: The True Story Of An Unlikely Journey Into Minor League Hockey.

This time around the film is set during a lockout of the professional ice hockey season, and it sees The Thug's team the Halifax Highlanders deciding to reunite with a group of new players. Jay Baruchel has assembled a rather impressive cast for his directorial debut, as he's convinced pretty much all of the original ensemble to return.

As you'd expect, Jay Baruchel himself is doing just that in his role as Doug's best friend, plus he'll be joined by Alison Pill's Eva, who is Doug's pregnant wife There's also Liev Schreiber as Doug's rival, Ross 'The Boss' Rhea, as well as Marc-Andre Grondin, Eugene Levy, Kim Coates, Jonathan Cherry and David Paetkau.

Plus, Jay Baruchel has expanded the cast with Elisha Cuthbert, Wyatt Russell and T.J. Miller, too, which suggests that there's enough new talent to make Goon: The Last Enforcers its own, while still echoing the original. During production on Goon: Last Of The Enforcers, TSN's Sportscaster James Duthie took to Twitter to reveal that T.J. Miller would be play his co-commentator during the film, too, which just sounds perfect.

Unfortunately, while Goon: Last Of The Enforcers' Canadian release has already been announced as March 17, 2017, we're still waiting for a date when it will finally be with American audiences. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates!

Ontario's Jay Baruchel is one of Hollywood’s secret weapons, adding just the right awkward-lite touch to every movie he stars in, from ensemble comedies like This is the End and Tropic Thunder to indie thrillers like Fetching Cody and Good Neighbors. Television viewers will soon be able to get their weekly Baruchel quota now that FXX has put in a 10-episode series order for the half-hour comedy series Man Seeking Woman. Expect more chuckle aches than heartbreaks with this one.

Man Seeking Woman is based on humor author Simon Rich’s 2013 story collection The Last Girlfriend on Earth: And Other Love Stories, and Rich himself is writing the pilot, as well as taking on executive producer and showrunner duties. Beyond several award-winning books, Rich was also a writer for Saturday Night Live for several years before heading off to work as a writer for Pixar. This will be his first non-sketch series.

In the show, which is coming from Lorne Michael’s Broadway Video, Baruchel will play Josh Greenberg, the quintessential guy who’s searching for love in all the wrong places. After his longtime girlfriend breaks up with him, he falls back into the dating world with often disastrous results. But he pushes forward, even in the face of constant unhappiness, hoping that someone exists out there that might make him happy. (We've seen him do something like this before in the fantastic series Undeclared.) Baruchel will be joined by co-stars Britt Lower (Unforgettable), Maya Erskine (Betas) and Eric André (The Eric André Show), one of the zaniest comedians out there.

The first episode will be directed by fellow SNL vet Jonathan Krisel, who has most recently found his calling as a writer/director on Portlandia and Kroll Show. He’ll also serve as an executive producer along with Andrew Singer and Lorne Michaels.

2014 has given audiences a nice selection of Baruchel roles to choose from, as he’s been in José Padilha’s RoboCop remake, Jonathan Sobol’s crime caper The Art of the Steal, Dan Fogler and Michael Canzoniero’s surreal comedy drama Don Peyote, and he is also the voice of the maturing Hiccup in the recently released How to Train Your Dragon 2. As for future projects, he'll be seen in Cameron Crowe’s upcoming untitled rom-com as well as an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story 10 O’clock People.

According to Deadline, FXX is planning on bringing Man Seeking Woman to audiences at some point in 2015. Maybe around Valentine’s Day? We’ll see.

The works of Stephen King have inspired countless nightmares and over 170 adaptations in film and television, from The Shining and It to Pet Sematary and The Shawshank Redemption. Now Jay Baruchel is joining this legacy with the upcoming horror-thriller The Ten O'Clock People.

THR reports out of the European Film Market that Baruchel, who hit theaters last year in the hit apocalypse comedy This is The End, will executive produce and star in The Ten O'Clock People, which is adapted from one of King's short stories.

Found in the collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, The Ten O'Clock People centers on Brandon Pearson (Baruchel), a smoker so desperate to kick the habit that he begins treatment using a cessation drug. But when his willpower crumbles and he picks up the cigarettes once more, the combination of smoking with the remnants of the drug trigger a chilling side effect that reveals to him the insidious reality of his world. Many of the people in charge, from police officers to high-ranking politicians aren't human at all, but inhuman monsters in disguise. Upon this realization, he joins a band of resistance members called The Ten O'Clock People.

The adapted screenplay has been penned by Tom Holland, who will also direct. Holland has a long history in horror, having helmed Child's Play and 1985's Fright Night. But he's especially interested in King's brand of terror. The Ten O'Clock People will mark his fourth time directing a King adaptation, following the 1995 mini-series The Langoliers, the freaky thriller Thinner, and half of the episodes of The Stand mini-series.

Holland has had The Ten O'Clock People in the works since the summer of 2012, when Justin Long was in talks for the role of Brandon. Shortly thereafter, Rachel Nichols of Continuum signed on to play one of the titular rebels, but this incarnation of the project ultimately fell apart. Last spring, Holland was attempting casting once more, and aimed high. With hopes of shooting the following fall, Holland was working to hook Captain America's Chris Evans. Of course that proposed start date has come and gone, and now there is no mention of the action star made in the latest THR item.

Nonetheless, The Ten O'Clock People seems to be coming together. Baruchel is not in talks, he's signed on, committed as an actor and producer. The proud Canadian entertainer will be bringing the production to his homeland, moreover his hometown of Montreal. The Ten O'Clock People is expected to roll into production in June. In the meantime, you can look for Baruchel in the RoboCop reboot, which hits theaters on February 12th, and in How to Train Your Dragon 2, coming June 13th.

Among the crew of funny people who occasionally pop up in Judd Apatow's projects, Jay Baruchel tends to linger slightly off to the side of more prominent actors like James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. Being somewhat on the fringe of that group actually served as a great bit of comedy and character set-up for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's 2013 comedy This is the End, in fact. But that's no reason to underestimate Baruchel's talent or potential, as he's proven to have plenty of both, which is why it's so great to hear that he's set to star in an FX pilot, which would put him back on TV in a starring (non-voice) role, should this project go to series.

TVLine reports that Baruchel has been tapped to star in the FX comedy pilot Man Seeking Woman, which is based on a book by Saturday Night Live scribe Simon Rich, The Last Girlfriend on Earth. Written by Rich and executive produced by SNL's Lorne Michaels, the comedy is described as "a sweet and absurd look at the life-and-death stakes of dating." Baruchel will play the part of Josh Greenberg, guy who's thrust back into the dating scene when his longtime girlfriend dumps him. Baruchel's character is described as a naive romantic on a desperate quest for love. That actually sounds like a great fit for Baruchel, who can surely play up a sensitive and vulnerable side with potentially charming results.

Baruchel's early credits include Nickelodeon's scary-story show Are You Afraid of the Dark and later, with a more prominent role in Judd Apatow's Undeclared. In recent years, we've seen more of him on the feature side, with roles in Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up and the mentioned This is the End. (This is the End SPOILERY pictures at the bottom of this article!)

Baruchel also wrote and co-starred in one of my favorite 2011/2012 films, Goon. So he's been busy with feature work both on and off screen, but he hasn't been completely absent from the small screen. He appeared in an episode of Being Human and has reprised his voice-role of Hiccup for the How To Train Your Dragon TV follow-up Dragons: Riders of Berk. Baruchel has certainly been around for a while, and he's been doing great things. This new comedy has potential to be another one, if it makes it beyond the pilot stage. Here's hoping. In the meantime, he's credited for a role in the upcoming Robocop remake and his dragon-training character Hiccup will be back on the big screen coming soon for the How to Train Your Dragon sequel.

Here's where those spoilery images from This is the End come in!

Go ahead and celebrate this news by listening to some Backstreet Boys...

On some set visits, you spend a lot of time talking to the people who make the film look the way it does, from the production designers to the costumers to the director, all of them showing you their amazing special effects and the unique world they've created, usually within a soundstage. And while the effects on This Is The End will no doubt be impressive-- directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg still seemed slightly amazed that Sony even gave them the budget they had-- the movie is really all about the talking, and the comedic spark between the six main characters, all of whom we've seen playing friends in one combination or another for years.

There's Rogen and James Franco, who met over a decade ago playing buddies on Freaks & Geeks. There's Rogen and Franco and Danny McBride and Craig Robinson, who were at the center of the stoner action comedy Pineapple Express. There's Rogen and Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel, who were three of the slacker roommates in Knocked Up. And behind it all there's Rogen and Goldberg, childhood friends who wrote Superbad together when they were 13 and who are making their directing debut on This Is The End, which at moments looked like an expensive excuse to get all their friends together and improvise in a giant set that was supposed to be James Franco's Los Angeles mansion.

You've probably caught one of the many hilarious trailers or clips for This Is The End, which show off the party at Franco's house that gets disrupted when, well, the world seems to be ending. But for how the movie came together, how the guys improvise together on the set and how they avoid keeping in too many in-jokes, check out this compilation of the interviews we conducted on This Is The End's New Orleans set last June. And for everything you need to know about This Is The End, click here.

The whole project started with "Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse," a short that debuted online in 2007 and was rumored to become a feature film not long after.

Baruchel: It’s been six, seven years that I’ve been waiting for this thing to finally get going and I’m still blown away that people think our little short can be a movie, so it’s pretty neat to see it come to fruition.

The short happened because a friend of ours named Jason Stone, who is over there at video village. He was graduating from USC and he kind of wanted a calling card for potential directing gigs so he and Evan came up with this silly idea of me and Seth being stuck in an apartment together and just bitching at each other, so we went to USC and shot for two days on this awesome set that these kids built and yeah, that was it.

Was there ever a point when the feature version was just going to be the two of you or was it always going to be more people?

Baruchel: Oh, I have no idea. Yeah. I think maybe at the very beginning, but I think that would have limited the scope of the thing and the voices that could be in it. I think just him and I made sense for seven minutes or a trailer but I think for a whole movie people would probably get sick of just the two of us…

Goldberg: The basic idea was: What’s the biggest concept we could do at the cheapest price possible? And that lends itself to making a big movie. We never wanted to do a small version but we would’ve. If it came down to it.

Rogen: I mean we made an End of the World movie in that short, for like literally like zero dollars. So that was kind of the idea, was to make an epic giant movie that, you know, was somewhat contained at times so you could kind of afford to spend your money on the big stuff when you needed to basically. I mean, visual effects have come so far at this point, you really can do a lot with not a little money.

Goldberg: Like Chronicle kind of blew our fucking minds.

Rogen: Yeah, we look to movies like Chronicle and Cloverfield and a lot of movies that use practical effects in great ways. Those were really what guided us and let us know what we could do something that was visually epic and gigantic but for a price that we could do whatever the fuck we wanted basically.

When Rogen and Goldberg finally had a script ready for the feature version-- and a studio willing to finance it-- they started assembling the story specifically for each actor, but only once they could get the schedules worked out.

Rogen: We talked to all these guys about doing it like before we started writing.

Goldberg: We never ever thought they’d all do it - just by scheduling and all that.

Rogen: Yeah, we told them. We were like: “We don’t want to write a fucking movie with you guys in it if you guys aren’t going to do it. So just let us know if it’s something you think you would do.” And everyone said yes and so then we wrote it, after having talked to them all. So we knew we could do it basically.

Robinson: Everyone said I was the first one to say, I'm in. I don’t know if this had been done with people just, everybody's using their real names and stuff like that, so I thought it was ambitious and exciting.

Hill: It was right after I finished Jump Street, I think. I came over to Seth's house and they discussed it with me. There are a few people in my career I've been lucky enough to work with who I would do anything for, and Seth and Evan are those guys. If they ask me to show up, I show up. It doesn't really matter what it is.

McBride: They were fishing around for when was a window of time when everybody would be available. Somehow the continents shifted and everyone could take off for these three months just to come here and have fun.

Rogen: We have some friends that weren’t able to do it, but when you watch it, you’ll notice that not every single person we’ve ever worked with was in it. That’s because a few of them had scheduling conflicts.

Each of the actors were asked to play themselves, but all of them different in some way-- McBride is a much more obnoxious version of himself, Hill a much sweeter one, and Baruchel is presented as the "friend from out of town," even though he acts as much as his co-stars. Some of the actors were on set wearing their own clothes, while others were quick to point out how different they were from their characters.

Goldberg: We definitely started off with everyone being full-blown assholes and then realized that it was too silly and we kind of give them each more realistic characters.

Rogen: Not everyone is an asshole. I don’t think any of these guys are really playing themselves in any real way, but I think every character is rounded to some degree within the reality of the movie.

McBride: Everybody is definitely portrayed in a way that is a little more grotesque than they normally are. Seth oddly enough doesn’t really have any negative attributes in this movie. (Laughs) He comes off as courageous, bold… I don’t know.

Baruchel: I think they take the aspects of our personalities that are most conducive to punchlines and story arcs and exacerbate them, so it’s a tightrope. There’s definitely some stuff I do or say in this movie that real Jay wouldn’t do or say but yeah, it’s strange. We are ourselves and we’re not. It’s kind of Curb Your Enthusiasm-ish in that respect.

Franco: When we started talking about it in pre-production, they said "You're sort of playing the version of yourself that's the most distant from you who you are." Part of that has to do with the dynamics they need for the film. There are aspects of me-- like I'm an actor, I like art, I like Seth-- that the character shares, but it's pushed to a goofy extreme. The character's, y'know, stupider, he's got the emotional level of a 13-year-old. They all do, I think. And you know, he's just a little shallower than I like to think that I am.

Robinson: I don’t think I am as whiny. I cry a lot in this movie, for the silly factor, but I don’t think I am that cry babyish. I think I'd be more like, "Yeah, bring it mother fucker."

Hill: I wanted to play a version of myself – and they'd originally written it differently – but someone who always saw the sympathy in a situation. Someone who was overly sympathetic to everything. And I poke fun at myself. Obviously everyone does in this movie. I went to dinner with an actor who was shooting out here the night before we started shooting, and he had a big diamond stud earring in his ear. So the day we started shooting I said I wanted to wear a big diamond in my ear and they thankfully let me do that.

Robinson: [wearing a T-shirt that says "Take Yo Panties Off] I had a similar t-shirt on at one of the parties that these guys throw, this was a few years back and they remembered it, and they wanted us all to be as close to our actual selves as possible. Literally, some days I have worn these actual jeans to set and then switched into them, into these actual jeans. It's the most comfortable I've probably been [on-set].

McBride: It’s just funny when you read it and you read the fate of your character, you kind of invest a little more, like “Really? This is what happens of me? This is what these guys think of me?” Then you realize everybody gets shit on.

Franco: This is I think unusual because it's being done in a mainstream, commercial movie. But I think other shows, like reality shows, like the Osbournes pushed it further than what we're doing, the Kardashians push it further than what we're doing. You think you're getting a real taste of who they are. I hope nobody watches this and thinks "Oh, that's what they're really like." There are ways to push it further. This is just, this is new because of the commercial film frame and bringing it into a heavy effects kind of film. LIke if the Kardashians suddenly were fighting aliens or something like that, sorta like that.

Baruchel: At this point, who the fuck cares? Like people will infer what they infer, I’ve learned that a long time ago, and if I got worried about people assuming I’m like the characters I play I probably would have quit ten years ago. In those rare moments when I’m faced with that, I just remind myself that less than a quarter of actors can feed themselves from acting and I’ve been able to have a career doing that for 18 years, so that trumps any of that stereotyping issue.

All of the actors have worked together previously, of course, and their comfort with each other showed clearly on set. Some were more open than others about how much this reunion meant to them personally.

McBride: I’m trying to think of when we have all been in the same room together. Independently we have all been together, but yeah this is union hasn’t happened… I think my wedding was the last time all four of us [Franco, Rogen, Robinson and McBride-- the Pineapple Express crew] were together, yeah, in a swimming pool filled with piss.

Hill: My college experience was making movies with these guys. We all started out together and have grown and evolved in different ways. To have everyone assembled together for a movie like this, and have had them start together, is rare. I know this is my last comedy for the next year, year-and-a-half probably, so it feels like a cap to my early 20s. I don't know how to put it without making it sound like it wasn't important for anyone else, only me, but it's rare to get to work with this many people you've known for years and years and years. The next three things I'm doing are more hardcore, emotionally, and this is really fun. It's cathartic and fun, there's no other adjective I have for it. It's fun, there's no pressure or intensity, it's just really a laugh.

Robinson: We definitely done some hanging, seen some suns come up, like… One night we went to the House of Blues, we went at 2:30 and just hung out and then everyone sharpened themselves up… We had some dinners, went on a swamp tour. You know, New Orleans, you got to get your rhythm, this town will exhaust you, but it's been fun every night.

There are drastic differences between each take we see them shoot, with Rogen, Goldberg and even some of the actors throwing out line suggestions while the camera rolls. As you'd expect from guys who have worked this long with Judd Apatow, improv is highly encouraged, and Rogen and Goldberg know they're setting themselves up to find the movie in the editing room.

Rogen: The truth is we’ve had a hundred billion conversations with every element of this movie, literally, for the last six years when we started thinking of it. We kind of know how we want everything to be in a general way, and then there’s the general throw out any idea you want during the scene rule.

McBride: It’s one of those things where you really have to be really paying attention to what’s happening in a scene. You’ve got to be able to feel those rhythms of when someone is going for a run you’ve got to be able to step back and let them do it. It does become that game where it’s like you don’t want it to be like every single person is just trying to fill every blank space with a joke and I think all of these guys have been really good about that, like you can kind of sense when it’s somebody’s turn to do something.

Rogen: It’s so silly to have all these guys in a movie together and not let them riff-off each other. You know, that was always our plan. It’s not that different then from capturing stunts at times. We put as many cameras on it as we can and we hope something fucking awesome is going to happen - and that is kind of what it’s like. So it would be silly for us to be too, strict with the lines because these guys - most of them are movie writers in their own rights. So it’s silly to not get their ideas and shit like that.

McBride: All of these guys, from Jay to Franco to Craig, everyone has worked with these guys before and they know the routine and much improv is involved and so yeah, it’s just easy. You’re just in the scene and if you’re on a good run, Seth and Evan will encourage you to keep going or throw things your way if you’re going down the wrong path. It’s actually been very easy working with them as directors.

Baruchel: This flick is their voice, 150%. It’s obviously a collaboration—that’s not just lip service—but they encourage it. You guys will see that they foster that atmosphere. That being said, this is Seth and Evan effectively given a blank slate to do whatever they want with. I won’t go so far as to say carte blanche but damn near close, as close as they’ve come so far. As a friend and a fan of theirs, that’s kind of exciting.

Rogen: I mean I think our style is probably closest to Judd in the way that he is willing to completely let a new scene materialize on the day and in the moment. We haven’t worked with that many other people and on our movies you know, the ones that aren’t Judd movies, there’s usually a different writer than director - so there’s some level of respect that happens. The director won’t just suddenly say like, “Throw out all the fucking lines go crazy!” But since we’re both, we can do that, which is nice and there have been some scenes that we’ve done one take of and it’s like “This isn’t right” and we’ll literally, completely, re-write all of it in a few minutes. Or we’ll just improvise for an hour and see if something better comes up and it usually does and then we’ll just go with that version.

As a movie that pokes fun at a bunch of Hollywood actors who have no idea how to deal with real danger, This Is The End is crammed with jokes about each star's previous work-- right down to James Franco's giant mansion, which he concedes was probably supposedly built with his Spider-Man money (though he says "I'm sure Seth has made more money than I have.") But all of them are aware that the in-jokes can only go so far before the audience gets irritated.

Baruchel: There’s a lot of shitting on each other’s work in this movie. The only concern with that stuff is for my money, the average working class person that buys tickets probably couldn’t care less about shit like that. Nobody goes to the movies to see a movie about people talking about movies. Aside from that, no, we’ve been able to say whatever we want.

Robinson: Nothing is off limits… nothing is off limits. We had some Office moments. In fact I poked fun of myself in a scene that comes after this, when I go outside and I'm like what's going on, "It's me, Daryl from The Office." That happened.

The film went into production as End of the World and had started as a short called Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse. They settled on This is The End after the film was finished, but Rogen admitted they were having a hard time settling on anything at the time.

Rogen: We suck with titles, we’ll be the first to admit it. If it’s not completely apparent what the movie should be called, then we have a hard time with it. So, this is what we’ve got for now. We’ll see what happens.

Were people just wanting to know what “Apocalypse” this was?

Rogen: No, we just couldn’t legally clear that title. Fox owns it! Titles are a motherfucker. Everyone owns every fucking title in the universe. Like they’re all registered with MPAA and it’s crazy. It’s really hard to get a title. Even with 50/50, Disney owned it. We had to call fucking Sean Bailey to get permission to use it. And I’ve called Tom Rothman over and over [for the rights to use "Apocalypse" in the title] - they won’t let it go.

Kurt Russell’s no stranger to the tough-guy act, nor is he unfamiliar with comedy, so his role in the upcoming film The Black Marks, which is described as a heist comedy, sounds like a good fit for the actor. The same could be said for Matt Dillon, who’s also on board to star in the movie, which now officially has a distributor.

Weinstein Company’s Bob Weinstein made the announcement today that Dimension Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to The Black Marks. The film will begin production this month.

Written by Jonathan Sobol, The Black Marks stars Russell, Dillon and Jay Baruchel and follows Crunch Calhoun (Russell), a “a third rate motorcycle daredevil and semi-reformed art thief,” who turns back to crime for one more job, along with his brother Nicky (Dillon). Neither brother realizes that the other has their own agenda and things go awry. Also among the cast is Jay Baruchel, though Dimension's release doesn’t specify where he fits into the story. Perhaps he’s part of the team Crunch assembles when planning the art theft.

On an aside, Crunch Calhoun? Kurt Russell’s played some very memorable roles, but looking over his list of credits, the man has also had some pretty amazing character names. Snake Plissken, Reno Hightower, Dean Proffitt (can’t leave out Overboard), Gabriel Cash, and of course, Wyatt Earp are among some of his previous character names. We also have “Ace Woody” to look forward to in the upcoming Django Unchained, and now Crunch Calhoun for The Black Marks. It's a good name.

An original member of the Judd Apatow crew, Jay Baruchel has established himself as - first and foremost - a comedian. From Undeclared to Knocked Up to Tropic Thunder, Baruchel has primarily used his career as an actor to make audiences laugh, but now he's going to try and make you tremble.

Apple has premiered the first trailer for Good Neighbors, a film by Jacob Tierney starring Baruchel, Scott Speedman, Xavier Dolan, and Emily Hampshire. The story centers on three people in an apartment building who find themselves bonding over the news of a serial killer in their neighborhood. As the murders get more and more frequent, however, the friends begin to spend more and more time together and realize that each one may not be exactly who they seem to be.

Check out the trailer below or in HD over Apple.

Eugene Levy is one of those actors whose performance is entirely dependent upon what particular film he's in that week. Like a cocky high school soccer team he always plays down to his competition, but when the material is there, or at the very least Christopher Guest is involved, you can count of him for a few funny scenes. Or at least that's what the new Jay Baruchel/ Evan Goldberg comedy Goon is hoping for.

According to Variety, the hockey flick which already boasts Seann William Scott and Liev Schreiber is filming up in Winnipeg, and Eugene Levy has just signed on to play a yet-to-be-revealed part. The story, based on a similarly titled memoir, follows a brawler who unexpected joins a local minor league hockey team and finds near instant success, at least until the league's resident goon comes gunning for him.

I'm torn. While I have to support nearly any film made about hockey on principle (because hockey is awesome), I'm a little concerned because Slap Shot, the greatest sports movie of all-time, also charts the story of minor league brawlers. Still with an excellent cast and a screenplay penned by Seth Rogae's writing partner, I will certainly go out of my way to find Goon when it shows up in theaters.

Ever since Jay Baruchel leaked her name to Australia's Herald Sun, Teresa Palmer's name has been attached to George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road. And why would we dispute it? Baruchel has been working with Palmer over the past couple months on The Sorcerer's Apprentice and had no incentive to lie about the project. Whether it was on purpose or not, the actor did get his facts wrong and it is now being reported that Palmer will not be appearing in the film.

While at a junket for for the upcoming Disney film, Palmer told Coming Soon that she will not be a part of Miller's film, which stars Tom Hardy in the lead role and has Charlize Theron, Zoë Kravitz and Nicholas Hoult supporting. The rumor began when Baruchel told the Australian paper that Palmer would be playing "the main chick" and would be filming it over the next year.

While it's strange that this story hung around for six months without being denied, it was a peculiar story to begin with. Without meaning to offend, why cast Palmer as the lead female when you've already signed Charlize Theron? Palmer is certainly an up-and-coming actress, but this story has weird written all over it. Something tells me that we aren't hearing the whole truth and we can expect more to leak out in the coming weeks.

We got a hefty dose of terror the other day in the form of two new character posters for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, one featuring the villainous Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) and the other the menacing wizard, Sun Lok (Gregory Woo). Now three more posters give a taste of the brighter side, highlighting the sorcerer himself, Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage), his female counterpart the sorceress Veronica (Monica Bellucci), and his apprentice, Dave (Jay Baruchel). The Sorcerer is premiering exclusively at Slash Film, but we have the other two for you below.

I love the digitally rendered painting-style. Rather than just having the actors glare into a camera with the special effects done post-shoot, this technique seamlessly blends the real elements with the CGI extras. (Want to see an example of such a failure? Refer back to those Percy Jackson character posters here.) I still think the nameplates are a little harsh, but hey, that’s only a minor detail; these are still so much more stimulating to look at than the majority of promotional material out there.

Back in January, the first promo for Adidas' Star Wars apparel line showed up online and perplexed fans everywhere. At some point between 1977 and 2010, Star Wars had gone from being the material that geeks obsess over to the stuff that the cool kids wear to school. It was madness. Their newest ad, however, clears things up a bit.

The new spot inserts many of the same celebrities from the first video, including Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk, and David Beckham, into the famous cantina scene where Luke and Obi Wan meet Han Solo and Chewbacca for the first time. If this is the only version of Star Wars that the Adidas people have ever seen it would make a lot more sense. After all, having Greedo try and get Beckham to play for Jabba's soccer team is a lot more hip than Solo saying that the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.

Check out the video, which also features Jay Baruchel, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Ciara, Franz Beckenbauer, and DJ Neil Armstrong, below.

Nicolas Cage is on a bit of a hot streak. After putting out dud after dud for the past few years, his last two live action films have been Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and Kick-Ass, both of which were well received by critics. He still has three more movies coming out this year, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Season of the Witch and The Hungry Rabbit Jumps. He's has plenty of opportunity in there to cool down, but if the newest footage from the former is any indication, he may be able to keep it alive.

Walt Disney Pictures has released a new featurette for the film which introduces audiences to both the forces of good (Cage as Balthazar Blake and Jay Baruchel as Dave) and the forces of evil (Alfred Molina as Maxim Horvath). Sure, it has a crotch shot and some of the funnier dialogue seems a bit pressed, but it still seems like it could be fun. Check out the video below.

Jay Baruchel is one of the most fun interviews I've ever done. The star of this weekend's She's Out Of My League has made a career of playing out-there geeks or insecure leading men, but the actor himself is basically fearless, tossing out f-bombs, telling the story behind all of his tattoos, and doing a spot-on imitation of Nicolas Cage for a crowd of journalists to get something other than the same old interview.

Some of that courage surely came in handy on She's Out Of My League, in which Baruchel plays a guy who finds himself dating a complete bombshell (Alice Eve), but goes through all kinds of humiliations in order to prove to himself that he's worthy of her love. From letting his best friend shave his testicles to having a giant dog lick a certain suspicious area on his crotch, Baruchel goes through lot in the film-- but it all pays off in the comedy. Check out our interview with the proudly Canadian star below. She's Out Of My League opens this Friday.

What's the key to playing this character?

Ideally if I did my job, he's sympathetic, he's at least moderately compelling. Also he's not pathetic. It was important to me that it not be about a guy whose life sucks, and then he meets a good looking girl and everything gets better. It was important to me that it came across that even if he never met her, he'd still be happy. She just enhances his life.

What personality traits do you share with this character?

There's a chunk of myself in every part I play. There has to be, or else I"ll suck at it. There was chick it took me a fair bit of time to get over, I guess, so I was heartbroken for a while. I think I'm a lot crazier than Kirk is. He's at least a functioning member of society. If you were to see the magazines I subscribe to...

Like what?

Oh, Cat Fancy, Soldier of Fortune and The Hockey News.

What drew you to this script?

For me it was my chance to be, albeit a lamer verison of him, to be my version of Lloyd Dobler. The moments are a lot broader in this than they are in Say Anything and all that stuff, [but] this owes more to that than it does to anything in the past 10 years. I got to make this movie and do my Dobler, and I got to do a movie called The Trotsky where I got to be Ferris basically. It's my way of putting my stamp on that style of movie.

So you're comfortable being the new hero for all of us-- whatever you want to call us?

For underdogs? Yeah, fuck it. You grow up skinny in Canada in working-class Montreal, you're definitely the underdog. Hell yeah, bring it on.

What was the most awkward scene for you?

I think you know the answer to that question. There's nothing not challenging about having a dog licking fucking beef pate off your crotch for twelve hours.

You've always been good in supporting roles in movies, but now you're the headliner.

It's weird. I keep getting asked that question, and I'm psyched about it, but it hasn't been a huge paradigm shift as much as it seems. The workload, at least, I was groomed for. For every big American movie I've done where I was the supporting guy, I've gone back home to Canada to do supporting movies where I was the lead. When I started when I was 12, I did two TV shows back to back where I was the lead. The first job that brought me down to the states was a show called Undeclared, and I was the lead in that. It seemed like what I was supposed to be doing.

How did you choose to have a butt double in the manscaping scene?

Well, it was two things. One, I have a little sister and my mother who live two blocks away from me. I don't need my junk being out there for everyone to see. I was raised to air your dirty laundry in private. Also, had they really wanted me to be naked in it, they should have asked me when they were negotiating my friggin' contract.

How did you go back picking which backside?

Whichever one had the least amount of ingrown hairs.

Would you ever want to be naked on the screen?

No, are you kidding me? No fucking way. I am convinced I can have a career that I love and respect and am proud of without once having to be naked. There are precious few people out there who are like, "Fingers crossed, Baruchel will be naked out there one day." No one is holding their breath for that sequence.

What's the story of your tattoo?

I've actually got a couple. [Gesturing to the word "Rodell" on his right forearm] That's my mother's maiden name. She's six of eight kids, most of them are girls, so my granddad's name probably won't live on past this generation. It was my tribute to that side of the family. My mother hates it every time I get one. She'll never be psyched about them, but at least she can't take issue with them. I got the maple leaf, her family name, and then I got, representing her Irish side of the family, I got the Celtic cross.

If you’re pretty, you’re probably going to hate She’s Out Of My League. It pokes a sharp stick into the charmed bubble that the world’s good looking spend their lives in. You may want to believe that we’re all the same, that you got that job based on your talents or ability, but odds are there was someone with even more ability who got the shaft because they weren’t as good looking or charming as you. And you may think you’re only interested in dating people based on their personality, but the truth is you probably haven’t dated a guy who looks like Don Knotts. Jay Baruchel, incidentally, looks an awful lot like Don Knotts.

Below we have four new clips from She’s Out Of My League in which Jay Baruchel finds himself inexplicably dating the real-life equivalent of a supermodel even though he, as mentioned, looks like he should be riding shotgun with Andy Griffith.