The 2025 movie schedule ushered in the return of Cameron Diaz, who came out of retirement to star in Netflix’s Back in Action alongside Jamie Foxx. So far, the film has trended high amongst other titles on the streamer, and a number of fans have been pumped about Diaz’s return. At one point, though, it seemed that it might not be a possibility. Director Seth Gordon just revealed that he was told to not “even think” about reaching out to Diaz. Yet “extraordinary timing” and Foxx helped make it all happen.

As someone who’s not in the entertainment business, I’d imagine it would be challenging to land a major star for some sort of production. So the thought of trying to convince a beloved Hollywood actor like Cameron Diaz to get back in the saddle for a new film seems daunting. Seth Gordon recently recalled that stage of the development process and, while he was warned against trying to pursue the Mask icon, Jamie Foxx provided him with an in. Let’s just say, it’s all about who you know, in this case:

To be totally honest, I can understand why the Four Christmases helmer was discouraged from seeking out Cameron Diaz for the co-leading role of his latest film. Before she joined the Netflix original, her last feature film credit was 2014’s Annie remake, on which she also worked with Jamie Foxx. It’s truly wonderful when things work out in an organic way. Seth Gordon seems to be quite thankful for the They Cloned Tyrone star’s assist, based on the latter comments the filmmaker shared with THR:

Back in 2022, it was reported that Cameron Diaz’s unretirement actually wasn’t her idea, as it was her husband, Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden, who encouraged her to take the leap. Diaz explained her decision while doing press for her comeback movie, admitting that her co-star and on-screen spouse’s enthusiasm helped move the needle. That definitely falls in line with the account shared by their director. It would also seem that the actress was well compensated, as Diaz was reportedly paid $45 million to star in two films.

Considering that the movie hit No. 1 on Netflix relatively quickly, now there’s the question of what lies ahead. Back in Action’s ending sets up a sequel and, as mentioned, Cameron Diaz did sign a two-picture contract. So it’s possible that she could be down for more. We’ll have to wait and see but, for now, fans should just be grateful that the stars aligned for Diaz to work with Jamie Foxx and Seth Gordon this time around.

You can stream Back in Action now using a Netflix subscription.

Every feature film ever made, from the smallest independent productions to the biggest blockbusters, has gone through an at least modest period of turbulence, but there are few that have gone through the ridiculous ups and downs experienced by the developing Uncharted movie. The project – a live-action adaptation of the beloved video game series of the same name – first started coming together all the way back in November 2009, but in the last decade it’s accomplished little more than rotating through a series of filmmakers and scripts.

Even the franchises’ biggest fans probably struggle to keep track of all the back and forth regarding the film, so we’ve decided to… well, chart it. With a deep dive into the CinemaBlend news archives guiding us, here is the full and wild history of Uncharted’s challenges and delays.

The Original Version

As noted above, it was in November 2009 that Sony first started getting to work on a live-action Uncharted, hiring Conan The Barbarian screenwriting duo Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to pen the screenplay, but it was actually just short of a year later that the film really started cooking with gas. This was when the studio managed to recruit David O. Russell to helm the project, the filmmaker having a lot of heat at the time because of the forthcoming release of The Fighter.

With Russell at the helm and penning a new version of the script, Uncharted began to employ some top tier talent. A decade before Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman came together it looked like the video game project was going to be the film that reunited stars Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. While controversial, it was also confirmed that Mark Wahlberg was the writer/director’s choice to play the lead role of adventurer Nathan Drake.

That version of the project existed for a few months, but it was less than half a year later that everything started falling apart. In May 2011, it was reported that David O. Russell was no longer attached to make Uncharted, eventually explaining that his take on what to do with the source material didn’t line up with what the studio wanted to see from the blockbuster.

From Neil Burger To Seth Gordon

Losing a writer/director with as much clout as David O. Russell was surely seen as a disappointment by the studio executives, but little time was wasted trying to find a new vision from a different director. The search took about two months, as Neil Burger was given the helm of Uncharted in July 2011. The filmmaker was just a few months removed from the release of Limitless starring Bradley Cooper, and he started putting together his own take on the material, wiping the slate clean as far as story approach.

With few updates about its development emerging publically, that period of Uncharted’s history lasted for nearly a year-and-a-half, but Neil Burger decided to drop the film in November 2012, deciding to make Divergent instead.

Having lost its second director, the project once again had to start over, and Sony hired National Treasure screenwriters Marianne and Cormac Wibberley to take a crack at the blockbuster. That led to Uncharted spending some time sitting on a shelf… but then in February 2014 it found new life. With a filmography including comedies Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief, director Seth Gordon was matched with the video game adaptation.

By mid-2014 plans were made to have production startup in early 2015, and the film even got Hurt Locker Oscar winner Mark Boal to do a version of the script as it was coming together… but principal photography never began. Instead, by June 2015 it was reported that Uncharted had lost its third director, with Seth Gordon moving on to pursue other projects.

The Shawn Levy Era

After five years of development and attaching three directors, the Uncharted movie had made zero real forward motion, and it wasn’t until July 2016 that the feature found new life again. Sony felt positive about a pitch given to them by Joe Carnahan, and hired him to work on the screenplay. A proposed June 30, 2017 release date was floated on the release calendar, but by September 2016 it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.

Having been developing Joe Carnahan’s script for nearly a year-and-a-half, Sony struck a deal with Shawn Levy to become the fourth director of Uncharted in October 2016. It was only just shortly after this that Mark Wahlberg announced he was no longer involved with the production – having still been attached since the David O. Russell take – but his journey with the film wouldn’t really end there (we’ll get back to him).

By January 2017, the film once again looked like it was ready to become real. Uncharted had a finished script by Joe Carnahan, and plans were being made to have the project ready to shoot in the spring. In May 2017, Sony decided to double down on one of their biggest franchise’s stars, as it was decided that their Spider-Man: Homecoming lead, Tom Holland, would also play Nathan Drake in Uncharted. Unfortunately, the studio also once again found itself having some serious trouble actually nailing down a director to make the damn thing.

Tom Holland Is Nathan Drake, But Who Is Directing?

To date, Shawn Levy holds the record as the director with the longest attachment to Uncharted, as he was seated in the director’s chair for over two years… but that particular era ended in January 2019. With the future of the video game movie unclear, Levy decided to make Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds (a totally different kind of video game movie), and left his position vacant for 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg to take over.

Sony started to get ambitious again and announced a December 18, 2020 release date, but as you might have already guessed, that’s not happening. In August 2019 it was revealed that Dan Trachtenberg had become the fifth director to drop the project. The gap was filled quickly, with Bumblebee’s Travis Knight taking on the job just a few weeks later, but issues haven’t stopped plaguing the project in the months since.

Where We Are Now

First there was the news in December 2019 about the need to change plans for production due to Tom Holland’s commitments to the Spider-Man franchise (which has a new chapter out in 2021, and plans to start filming in the summer). This led Sony to lose Travis Knight as director (a.k.a. goodbye to Director #6) while pushing the film’s release date back to March 5, 2021.

In January 2020 Sony decided to reteam with Zombieland/Zombieland: Double Tap director Ruben Fleischer for Uncharted, and in the weeks since the film has put together an ensemble cast including Mark Wahlberg (now as Victor “Sully” Sullivan, Nathan’s mentor and father figure), Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, and Tati Gabrielle. Unfortunately, it’s not clear if the film is going to be able to make its current release date, as the latest reports about the project say that production has been pushed back at least six weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With still not a single frame of the movie captured yet, we can’t say for certain what the future holds for Uncharted. That being said, we have faith that it will eventually get made, and when it does it will hopefully be worth the wait.

Could Atypical Season 2 happen at Netflix? That answer isn't known right now, but executive producer Seth Gordon seems positive about its chances. Gordon comments on the status of the show currently, and why he's feeling good about another season happening on the streaming service below:

Just so Seth Gordon and those reading are aware, Ozark has been picked up for Season 2. As far as timetables are concerned, that renewal came roughly a month after its premiere on Netflix, and as of writing, it has been a month and a day since Atypical's premiere. Stranger Things' Season 2 order came a month and a half following its premiere, so while it did take some time, it's not as though its renewal period was that much longer than Ozark's.

In either case, Seth Gordon tells THR that while Netflix has been vague about the show's reception with subscribers in Season 1, the Atypical team has seen some good feedback. Gordon says the show has gotten a lot of buzz on Twitter, and a quick search of Rotten Tomatoes will show the series is critically ranked above Ozark and The OA, which is another Netflix original that has received a Season 2 order. Gordon also indicates that he's aware of the third party methods to obtain viewership information for Netflix shows, although he doesn't share whether or not the team has looked into those services or what those numbers might say.

As far as Season 2 of Atypical goes on his end, though, Seth Gordon indicates that even though he's currently juggling 4 shows between television and streaming, he still plans to be involved with the series. Specifically, Gordon says he intends to keep in close contact with the show's supporting creator, Robia Rashid, and ensure she's got the team she needs to keep this series chugging along. Let's hope that means hiring more writers to further develop Michael Rapaport's Doug as well as finding a way to top that Season 1 cliffhanger!

Atypical is currently streaming on Netflix. For those who haven't seen the series, there are many good reasons to check this show out beyond the fact that its one of the only shows where the main character is diagnosed with high functioning autism! Netflix lovers can read up on those reasons, or check out our Netflix guide for a list of shows and films on their way to the platform that are worth checking out. For a complete list of things premiering on streaming and television visit our fall premiere guide.

Though there are several shows out there currently living a second life on a different network or streaming service, the list unfortunately doesn’t include Happy Endings, a show that fans would watch rabidly even if it was released through a series of View-Master reels. We presumably still won’t get that return anytime soon, but take comfort in knowing that creator David Caspe has another new project in the works called Manhunt that has reportedly just received a production commitment from Showtime. Caspe and cable could be an amazing combination.

Unfortunately, just next to nothing was unveiled when it comes to the plotline behind Manhunt. All we know about it at this point is that it’s not just a comedy, but an action comedy. Did your interest just pique again?

For all the lack of narrative details, there are some other notable names involved that will hopefully counter your curiosity while we’re waiting to hear more about this intriguing comedy. The concept for Manhunt came from producer Aaron Kaplan, who has worked behind the scenes on a slew of shows over the past five years, including The Neighbors, Chasing Life, Secrets and Lies and NBC’s The Mysteries of Laura. According to Deadline, Kaplan brought the pitch to filmmaker Seth Gordon, who helmed Horrible Bosses, the upcoming Baywatch feature and a bunch of TV episodes, most notably for The Goldbergs.

Gordon then took the project to Caspe and My Best Friend’s Girl scribe Jordan Cahan, who are lifelong friends (with Cahan even serving as a supervising producer on Caspe’s other short-lived show Marry Me), and the duo took on writing duties together. We can probably presume that Gordon will be behind the camera if Showtime officially orders anything.

Though Happy Endings’ audience wasn’t as big as some of TV’s other hits, the fanbase was definitely as fervent as anything else out there, and everyone immediately got loud after NBC canceled the show. It took little time to get people campaigning for other outlets to pick it up, even though a reunion in any form would require the ensemble cast to go through some contractual troubles in order to work around their busy schedules. It could definitely still happen one day, and there’s a good chance one or more of the show’s stars will find their way to Manhunt in some capacity.

Manhunt comes from Sony TV, where Caspe and Gordon have overall deals, as well as Caspe’s own production company Shark vs. Bear. There’s no telling when Showtime might make an additional decision where this action comedy is concerned, but we’re hoping our wait has quite the happy ending.

It's been a while since we last heard an update about the proposed Baywatch movie, with Dwayne Johnson signing on to star all the way back in October of last year. Well, today the film took a huge step forward, and looks like it will actually become a reality, as new reports say that Seth Gordon is now in talks to direct.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news, noting that the filmmaker hasn't been behind the helm of a feature since 2013's Identity Thief. Gordon will be working from a script that has been written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Freddy vs Jason, 2009's Friday The 13th), though it's noted in the trade that they are hardly the first writers to take a crack at Baywatch.

According to the trade report, Baywatch will feature Dwayne Johnson as a lifeguard who is forced to partner with a "young rule-flouting hothead" so that he can save his beach from the hands of an oil tycoon that plans to destroy it.

Hollywood has been actively trying to develop a Baywatch movie since 2004 - thee years after the television series of the same name went off the air - but the challenge in developing the feature has been striking the right tone. Despite being utterly ridiculous, the show took itself entirely seriously, and was soap-y 90s crime drama. That being said, Baywatch has been mocked and satirized in every form imaginable, so it was eventually decided by movie studios that making it an action comedy would be the best way to go with the property. Considering Seth Gordon's history, with movies like Horrible Bosses and shows like Community, Modern Family, and The Goldbergs, he's a fit with this approach.

On paper, the idea of a Baywatch movie sounds ridiculous, but all the film really needs to accomplish to be taken seriously and successful is to follow the 21 Jump Street formula. Take the essential elements from the show - in this case beaches, red shorts, skin - and translate all drama through a comedic, self-aware filter. The movie is already halfway there thanks to the fact that it has Dwayne Johnson attached to play the lead role - it just needs a Phil Lord/Chris Miller-level script to back it up (a lot to ask for, I know).

It's weird to think that this movie is now going to be a Seth Gordon feature starring Dwayne Johnson, when just a few years ago it could have been a Robert Ben-Garant-helmed blockbuster starring Bill Hader. Now that a director is on-board, the plan is to spend the rest of the year in pre-production, and then start filming in the early months of 2016. While no release date has been announced yet, the dates suggest that Paramount is shooting to have the movie in theaters during the summer 2017 season.

Naughty Dog’s Uncharted is one of the most popular and beloved video games in recent years, and while the games are still going strong, Sony’s attempt to adapt the action into a major motion picture has been plagued with issues for years. And they just hit another one, as the latest director attached to the project, Seth Gordon, has bailed.

The news of Gordon’s exit comes from Heroic Hollywood, though Sony declined to offer comment on the matter, and Gordon’s representatives did not respond to subsequent requests for clarification from other outlets. According to a follow up from The Wrap, newly ensconced Sony head Tom Rothman has been considering the brewing project since taking over the reins, and according to the report, while he didn’t cut the budget, he decided to take a new "creative direction" with the material. We don’t know exactly what that entails, but that is the reason given for the split.

This is just the latest in a very long line of huge speed bumps that Uncharted has experienced along the way from video game consoles to your local metroplex. Like we said, Gordon, who last helmed the comedy Identity Thief with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy back in 2013, is just the most recent in a series of directors to abandon this project. Silver Linings Playbook’s David O. Russell was originally attached to direct, with Mark Wahlberg (and maybe Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci) in the lead role, though Russell eventually left after a few years worth of stalled development.

After Russell, Limitless director Neil Burger was tapped to take the big chair, which he eventually vacated after more than a year of work. Gordon replaced Burger in 2014, and now we know how that chapter ends. They’ve had a similar revolving door when it comes to writers. Russell was handling the script, at one point National Treasure scribes Marianne and Cormac Wibberley had the job, and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were even sought out at one point, though they passed. The Hurt Locker’s Mark Boal turned in the latest draft of the script, and at this rate, who knows how many more people will take a whack at this film?

The Uncharted saga follows the exploits of Nathan Drake, a descendent of Sir Francis Drake, who is an adventurer, kind of like a modern day Indiana Jones. Over the course of the games he tussles with pirates, mercenaries, war criminals, and more nefarious forces, and jaunts to exotic locations like the Himalayas, South America, and the Arabian Peninsula searching for lost wonders and awesome stuff.

For now we’ll have to wait and see what becomes of Uncharted. Will they hire someone to replace Seth Gordon, or is this the proverbial last straw? The studio has been spinning their wheels on this since at least 2009, with no real progress to speak of, and though people do appear to be interested—including big name acting, directing, and writing talent, as well as fans—at some point you have to wonder if this has become more trouble than it’s worth. Then again, if they make Uncharted and it turns a profit, they probably won’t bat an eye, and with the source material, this could turn into one hell of an awesome adventure film.

Naughty Dog’s Uncharted video game series is a breakneck cinematic experience modeled after the Indiana Jones films, Romancing the Stone and a pinch of Han Solo’s attitude. They make for outstanding watches, already, and would provide a ton of great content for a film franchise. Now, it sounds like the pieces (once again) are falling into place for an Uncharted movie adaptation.

THR reports that Sony has tapped Oscar-winning screenwriter Mark Boal to polish an existing screenplay for an Uncharted movie that Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief) will direct. Attaching Boal’s voice to the project might mean a shift in tone. While the video games aren’t exactly outright comedies, there’s far more humor in thelead character of treasure-seeker Nathan Drake than you can find in Boal’s screenplays for The Hurt Locker or Zero Dark Thirty. Will Uncharted look like this?

What Boal does bring, however, is a terrific sense of military realism, and an ear for combat dialogue. In projects past, he has been paired with a brilliant technical director Kathryn Bigelow, so it might have been hard to see where his influences stopped and hers began. But the idea behind the Uncharted should be strong enough to get this adventure-seeking franchise off the ground, possibly giving Sony a new series from which they can wring sequels.

The plot of the Uncharted movie is unclear, according to THR, though it likely will pull from stories seen in the game. Nathan Drake is a descendent of Sir Francis Drake, and he often uses clues on the pages of the late explorer’s diary to unlock secrets on his globe-trotting quests. The games are beautifully crafted adventures, with amazing, cinematic graphics and invigorating cut scenes. Like this:

Hopefully the game can be half as exciting as that. The movie’s journey through pre-production has been equally harrowing. At one point, director David O. Russell wanted to take a crack at Uncharted, with his The Fighter and Three Kings co-star, Mark Wahlberg, playing Drake. But that fell apart. The THR story notes that Sony pitched the idea to Chris Pratt, but he passed. Finding the right Nathan Drake will be a major obstacle. Hopefully they’ll call Frank Grillo. But with a screenplay in motion, expect that announcement to drop, and soon.

The big screen adaptation of the video game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has found its way through a couple of director's hands already, with both David O. Russell and Neil Burger taking a whack at the job before finding other projects to do, but now a third contender has entered the ring to go toe-to-toe with the adventure game. According to Deadline, director Seth Gordon is now in negotiations with the folks over at Sony to direct the latest version of the Uncharted movie.

The most recent draft of the script has been written by David Guggenheim, which Deadline's sources say was so good that it got Sony to hire him to write Bad Boys III. The plot will follow adventurer Nathan Drake - a descendant of Sir Francis Drake - as he sets out on a global adventure alongside "a female journalist and his mentor" as he searches for the lost treasure of El Dorado. The casting process is expected to begin shortly, and while Mark Wahlberg was attached to the lead role when Russell was going to direct, fans have loudly proclaimed their desire to have Firefly star Nathan Fillion take the role.

Gordon is an interesting choice for the project, if not only because he has such a mixed background. The filmmaker broke out in 2007 with his video game documentary The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters, and has spent the last few years making big studio comedies like Four Christmases and Horrible Bosses in addition to episodes of television shows like The Office, Community, Parks and Recreation and The Goldbergs. Uncharted will be his first time working in the action-adventure genre, though there were more than a few big stunts and chase sequences in his last film, Identity Thief.

Where Uncharted stands from a timeline perspective isn't entirely clear. Hiring a director and starting the casting process suggests that Sony wants to get a move on this project as soon as possible, but they have not yet announced a release date. If they can get things together quickly enough there is a possibility that the film could start production this year and wind up late on the 2015 schedule, but Sony's plans are currently a mystery. Get a taste of what to expect from the movie with the video game trailer below:

When you think of true crime stories, what comes to mind? Lurid husbands who kill their wives’ friends for sexual favors? A woman who killed all seventeen of her gardeners? What about the mass theft of a country’s highly lucrative export? That last one is the real one, though it sounds a little different than that. Deadline reports Sony Pictures has acquired a comedic pitch for Jason Segel that will tell the story of a giant Canadian maple syrup theft. There’s something almost cowardly about burglars taking money from banks when there are people out there putting in the effort to snag tons of syrup to make their dough.

The as-yet-untitled comedy, to which Segel is only officially attached to star in, will be directed by Seth Gordon, who has had a lucrative last few years with Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief turning him into a go-to guy for hit comedies. The screenplay will be written by Chris Sheridan, a longtime writer and producer on Family Guy and Fox’s Titus, a show that would have been better suited in a post-Louie world. All in all, these three guys getting together on a film has the definite potential for comedic gold. Or amber. Whatever color syrup is.

Sheridan’s script will focus on Montreal Gazette writer Anne Sutherland’s reporting on the 2012 incident where thieves were reportedly responsible for stealing over $20 million (1 million kgs) of maple syrup from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup’s International Strategic Reserve in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford. Since the theft, police have found quite a bit of the stolen goods, with much of the remainder thought to have been sold off to unsuspecting customers. There have been over 20 arrests in the ongoing investigation.

Said to be a comedy with dramatic overtones, this sounds like the kind of high-concept project that Segel would get into, although it would be nice to know what central character they're be getting him to play. I don’t really see him as the guy leading the thievery ring, but that might be a good change of pace. I don’t see Sheridan or Gordon giving us anything very subtle either, but I’m hopeful, as this sounds like a sweet and sticky plot.

You’ll be able to catch Segel in Jake Kasdan’s comedy Sex Tape next July, as it’s currently filming. But of course you can catch him every week on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother. Check out the preview for next week’s episode below.

Just when it looked like things were going so well for the upcoming Horrible Bosses 2 - the film bringing back its three main stars and getting a script from the writers of the original - the project has lost its director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Seth Gordon was originally planning to come back and make the comedy sequel, but has now been forced out due to scheduling conflicts. New Line Cinema. however, only sees this situation as a speed bump and is still planning to have cameras rolling this fall.

Apparently the problem for Gordon, who broke out directing the video-game documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, is that he simply has too much on his plate right now. He is currently executive producing and directed the pilot for the upcoming ABC comedy series The Goldbergs, which stars Jeff Garlin, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Troy Gentile, and, according to the trade, he has "several other projects" in stages of development as well (though they don't mention any other titles). Gordon most recently directed the extremely successful road trip comedy Identity Thief, which came out back in February and made $134 million domestically by the end of its run.

If New Line wants to keep the production on schedule they will have to find a new director very quickly, and chances are it won't be too difficult a task. When the first Horrible Bosses came out in 2011 it was actually a sizable hit, making $209 million internationally on a small $35 million budget, so it's easy to why see any young comedy filmmaker would want a piece of the action. Plus, the job comes with the opportunity to work with Charlie Day, Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis, and who wouldn't want to do that?

Even once a director is found there's still a lot of work to do, as Day, Bateman and Sudeikis likely won't be starring in the movie alone. Because of the way the first movie ended, it's unlikely that Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, or Colin Farrell are going to be coming back for part two, so there will be a star power gap that needs to be filled. There are also question marks about a potential role for Jamie Foxx in the film, the Oscar winning actor having played murder consultant Dean 'Motherfucker' Jones in the last movie. When we last heard about the project in March it was said that Foxx was in talks, but the new report doesn't mention his involvement.

We'll likely be hearing about a new Horrible Bosses 2 director in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

After 2007’s supercool “arcade games as life” documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, director Seth Gordon has made three divisive comedies and a crapload of money in the process. 2008’s familial comedy Four Christmases, 2011’s raunch-fest Horrible Bosses and this year’s goofy road movie Identity Thief have each made over $100 million, and when that’s combined with his steady television directing, it seems the sky is Gordon’s limit.

In one of the strangest examples of “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” that come to mind, Gordon’s next project won’t be a comedy at all, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but a dirty cop thriller titled One Night on the Hudson. However, he will be reteaming with Horrible Bosses co-stars Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis for the feature, which Universal will produce. It’s one thing to readily accept these two comically gifted actors in a subtle drama, but a suspenseful thriller is another thing entirely. Regardless of how it turns out, this already sounds worlds more interesting than the Horrible Bosses sequel announced a few days ago.

So the story goes, a fresh-faced rookie cop is partnered with a cynical veteran, and for his first night on the job, they must transport a federal witness from New Jersey to Manhattan. It’s hard to top this line from THR’s story. “The only thing standing between the: dirty cops, dirty criminals, and the Hudson River." Expect some bridge action. It’s a shame there was no word on what characters Day and Sudekis would be playing.

The script for One Night on the Hudson was written as a spec by T.J. Fixman in 2011, and it spent two years without a home before Universal snatched it up. Fixman has previously written for video games, most notably the sci-fi FPS Resistance 2 and many entries in the Ratchet & Clank series.

Day became a breakout star thanks to the reliable hilarity of FX’s hit comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and will be appearing in Guillermo Del Toro’s monsters vs. robots epic Pacific Rim later this year. Sudekis, a Saturday Night Live veteran, will be reteaming with Jennifer Aniston for the pot comedy We’re the Millers in August, and he can be heard in the Twentieth Century Fox animated film Epic in May.

Referencing a classic song in a movie's title is probably one of Hollywood's most forgivable uninspired clichés. Sometimes monikers like Can't Buy Me Love or Stand By Me not only instantly evoke the tone a movie's aiming for but also offer a terse summation of the film's main theme. But more often than not these kind of titles are awkwardly slapped onto movies to make them better stick in the consciousness of potential moviegoers. So, their greatest crime is being far less memorable than their namesake.

Which category Disney's latest acquisition Ground Control to Major Tom will fall into is hard to predict, as we know nothing about the film's plot. What we do know—thanks to Deadline —is that the studio purchased Jason Micallef 's spec script which has Horrible Bosses' helmer Seth Gordon attached to direct, for the mid-six figures range. As you may have guessed from Gordon's involvement, Ground Control to Major Tom, which cops its name from the lyrics of David Bowie's "Space Oddity," is a comedy, but more specifically, it's a romantic comedy. But what this has to do with Bowie's track or space travel is entirely unknown at this stage.

Micallef is also a mystery His only screenwriting credit prior to this impressive sale is the satirical comedy Butter, which stars Jennifer Garner as an uptight woman frightfully addicted to competitive butter sculpting, which is apparently a thing. This quirky comedy was expected to hit theaters this spring, but was recently bumped to October 5th, where the Weinstein Company hopes the movie's political allegories will draw more traction so close to election time.

You can get a taste of Butter below from this curious clip:

I have no idea what Ground Control to Major Tom is about, but the clip above have me intrigued by Micallef's edgy sensibility. Still, it may be a while until Ground Control to Major Tom makes its way to the launch pad as Gordon is currently at work on Identity Thief, a crime caper starring Bridesmaids' Melissa McCarthy and Horrible Bosses' Jason Bateman, that goes into production this Monday. Also on his dance card is another music-inspired feature, The Only Living Boy In New York, which stars Logan Lerman and is slated for a 2013 release. All this could well mean the countdown to Ground Control to Major Tom may have to wait until next year.

The Identity Thief, the new comedy from director Seth Gordon, isn't exactly lacking in comedic talent as it is. Already set to star Jason Bateman, the script was changed last summer after the release of Bridesmaids just so that the central antagonist of the film could be played by the Oscar-nominated Melissa McCarthy. To be honest, if the movie were to only have those two actors in it it would guarantee that I would buy a ticket, but now they are just sweetening the deal.

Following news from late last month that Amanda Peet had signed on for a part in the project, THR says that John Cho and Clark Duke have both accepted roles in the comedy as well. Based on a script by Steve Conrad and Craig Mazin, the movie is about an ordinary man (played by Bateman) who gets royally screwed over when his identity is stolen by a "mess of a woman" (McCarthy). Cho, who is best known for playing one of the two leads in the Harold and Kumar franchise, will play an investment executive who is very interested in having Bateman's character join a new firm that he is starting. In a strange step away from the plot, Duke will portray "an Eagle Scout who, along with his buddies, is on a secret revenge mission to find the man who bilked him." How that actually fits into the main story isn't exactly clear.

Duke will next be seen in the dramedy A.C.O.D. with Adam Scott and Mary Elizabeth Winstead while Cho has a small role in Len Wiseman's remake of Total Recall, which is due out this summer.

Seth Gordon surprised a lot of people last summer. While his first film, the documentary King of Kong, was sensational, his first venture into narrative features, Four Christmases, wasn't exactly a slam dunk. Fortunately, he was given a great script by John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein and an all star cast and came up with Horrible Bosses, one of the best comedies of last summer and also one of the most successful at the box office. His name has been mentioned in connection with multiple projects since, including the Jason Bateman-Melissa McCarthy comedy Identity Thief, and now he's landed yet another.

According to Variety, Gordon has added a project titled The Has-Beens to his already long list of in-development projects. Also on that list are projects like the WarGames remake, the narrative version of King of Kong, and the Allan Loeb-scripted drama The Only Living Boy in New York. The plot of the new film is being kept under wraps, but it's based on a script by Max Werner who is a writer for The Colbert Report and scripted the upcoming Halloween film Fun Size, which recently finished production and stars Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Thomas Mann, Johnny Knoxville, Chelsea Handler, Josh Pence and Riki Lindhome. The project is being produced by New Line, with whom Gordon worked on both of his previous feature efforts.

The real question here is when this project will happen. Gordon has so much on his plate already so this could be shelved for years, but for all we know it will become the director's passion project and he'll want to make it immediately. We'll just have to wait and see.

As a director, Seth Gordon isn’t a slave to format. Since breaking out in 2007 with his amazing documentary King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters, he’s done studio comedies (Four Christmases) and multiple television shows (ranging from Community to Modern Family to The Office). The man is flexible to say the least and this weekend he’s releasing his second feature film, Horrible Bosses.

Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis, the film is about three friends who are having their lives ruined by their respective bosses, played by Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell. Unable to take anymore, they devise a plan similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train where each one kills the other one’s boss. The problem is that a fool-proof plan cannot be devised by a group of fools.

Earlier this week I had the chance to sit down with Seth Gordon one-on-one to not only talk about his newest film, but also his remake of Wargames and the feature version of King of Kong. Check it out!

You have kind of established yourself as almost a bit of a renaissance man when it comes to format of projects, you’ve done documentaries, TV, features. When you’re deciding what project to do, how much does format actually play into that decision?

Not a lot. I feel like, for me it’s about good stories wherever you can find them. There’s just a lot of great stories in real life, so then it becomes just a matter of which ones are doable, executable, affordable. And then for features it’s just, there’s so few that are getting made, so just finding the one that actually has that promise.

And what was it that brought you to this project?

I never laugh, hardly ever, reading scripts, and this one I laughed so hard I cried. Specifically Aniston’s character that got me, just got me. I had to be a part of it if I could, so I came up with a plan and a pitch just to see if they responded, and they did.

I know the project has kind of been around for a little while. When you first got it, how much did it change from then on?

The biggest changes probably came on set. There were certain things I wanted to change before we got on set, obviously we tailored everything to the guys that would play the roles, but they also are so good and so creative that we invented a bunch of stuff when we were on set too. Always working within the boundaries of the structure of the story, because the script is so good, but the best stuff, I think, is what you discover in that real environment while you are shooting. There’s always gold that comes out of that when you have the right demeanor and the right environment.

When you were casting Jason, Charlie, and Jason, how much were you looking for that creative spark that they would be able to provide on set?

I think intuitively I always am. I wasn’t part of the interview process or anything. I have a background in improv, I don’t particularly like things that feel improv-y, but I do like playing around in the characters. Improv to me is like, “Oh, we’re in space,” and it’s random and kind of on focus. But these guys are so good and so talented, such writers, that they can create within the boundaries of the scenes that exist. That’s really where the best stuff is found.

They seem to have terrific chemistry together, you really do believe that these guys have been, I know Sudeikis and Day have worked together before, how much of that came with them on set and how much was developed in production?

Both. They started in a good place but we also, it got better and better. I feel like I, I try to create an environment where it’s playful and it’s safe to experiment and suggest ideas and come up with new things, and that is exactly their same instincts. It’s just synergy. You can’t plan that but you know when you have it.

When it came to the casting process, the entire thing, both from the three heroes to Motherfucker Jones, you kind of have it all, it all really works together. So where do you really start with the casting process?

Well for me, it was, let’s find out who our three guys are and then let’s start finding the antagonists. But I should say that from the moment I walked in the room, well from the moment I read the script, I just knew that Aniston was a great choice. She was my first instinct and I was just so glad that she saw that too. She’s a great comedian and people don’t, I think people don’t often give her a chance to show other skills and she has them, and she brought it.

On that same kind of note, it’s really unlike anything we’ve ever seen from her before. Although it’s extremely funny, was it ever kind of awkward on screen? Because what she’s saying is...

Well, it was shocking, but it wasn’t awkward in the sense that she was a total pro. She knew she was gonna say that stuff and she brought it. It was intense, it was intense to see her say that stuff for the first time. But she was awesome.

I’m also curious about Colin Farrell because, like, a rogue Irish actor who’s known for being handsome, and he kind of completely destroyed it. How did you come to, did you call him in?

We met right here at the Roosevelt and he, at that first meeting was like, “I’d just like to do something different.” At that first meeting he started talking about, “What does this guy do? Does he go to clubs? Is he out of shape? He definitely does cocaine, right? What else does he do?” We start talking about the bald, like, “What if he’s bald? What if he’s got a combover? What if he’s got a belly?” and then we had those prosthetics made, and that’s a bit of a process, and then the second he put them on, he just became Bobby. He really turned into him and it was awesome to watch.

Was all the kung-fu stuff, the nunchucks, was that in the script?

No, it came out of this notion that he lives in Koreatown, he loves going clubbing in Koreatown, he kind of always wanted to be Asian, and it’s always Korean hookers that he hires. Just kind of weird, creepy details that all added up to a wonderfully original character.

When it came to the production design of the apartment, I mean they say it’s like living inside an asshole’s brain.

Yeah I mean, the production design, it’s like a tour-de-force, that place. It was not like that, obviously. We found the skeleton of that place but we really modified it and made it nuts.

When you’re coming to projects, as I mentioned before, you work in a lot of formats, do you find that your vision, are you able to take stuff that you learned from say, doing King of Kong into the making of this movie?

For sure, the King of Kong, I think there’s so many great lessons about character in having made that movie, and what makes for a compelling character. So I think that influences the way I help build this stuff with actors. I think that directly affected the way we portrayed Bobby, right? In terms of just his posture, his arrogance, his self-assurance, everything. And I think it was really handy having worked in TV some, some of the days where we really needed to move fast, that’s the essence of TV is that you don’t have enough time. And you just have to cover a lot of pages in a little amount of time.

Just on that kind of note, when you’re doing shows like, I know you’ve done episodes of Modern Family, Parks and Rec, and The Office, does that kind of lead-in more to the documentary experience?

Oh, for sure. I think those, those interviews, I try to obviously do what the writers wanted us to, but also interview those actors as, in character, and discover other weapons for editing.

Hollywood seems to have this weird thing where they are afraid of R-rated comedies because they think that by cutting off at age seventeen there’s no way they can make money. Was there ever any risk of this being a PG-13 movie or was it always going to be R?

No. I mean there was always a...Motherfucker Jones or whatever. It was always, there was such a hard R element in this movie at all times that I don’t think there ever could be a coherent PG-13 version. They’re gonna cut one for whatever, for TV or for the airplane version. I don’t know how they’re gonna do it.

The one I always go to, like The Big Lebowski, which they completely destroyed. Have you ever seen the edit of it?

That’d seem fun just as an exercise.

Just as a perfect example, when he goes out to destroy the car, he says, “This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps,” as opposed to, “Fuck a stranger in the ass.”

[laughs] What?

It’s insane. Also just, MPAA standards are just ridiculous. What is your stance on all of that?

I think it’s, you’ve gotta have entertainment for all ages, but I’m just glad that places feel comfortable financing movies that aren’t so safe. I think that having comedy where people talk the way they really talk, when you talk with your friends and whatever, it’s really, it’s important. Or else you’re making stuff that’s a little bit watered down and irrelevant.

Is realism always key?

I think so. For my taste, and I’m not, I’ve got lots of respect for robots that fight each other and everything blowing up. That’s an awesome spectacle, I just personally don’t respond to that the same way.

You do have an action sequence in this film, there’s the big car chase.

Yes, but it’s very real. It’s three buffoons finding themselves in a crazy car chase, and it was really important to me that they’re not, that it not all of a sudden be Fast and Furious, it had to be really real. They’re in a Volkswagon Jetta, you know? That’s funny.

Was that a hard thing on set? How complicated was that?

Oh, that was like two weeks. It was definitely the hardest part of the movie to shoot technically, and it was much harder than it might have been if we’d done any green screen or something. But I hate green screen, I hate what happens for performances when you put it on green screen. You can tell, it’s like “AHHHH,” but they’re not reacting to anything, and that’s not real. It’s much slower to do it the way we did it but I think it’s a lot better.

My favorite one is when their driver is going straight and starts turning the wheel from side to side

Yeah. I actually try to have them put their hands low, just so you don’t even see this crap.

And also, I do want to ask, because you have a huge slate of upcoming projects. First off, how do you, do you have, like, a ten year plan that you have worked out?

Well the truth is that not everything, the amount of stuff that actually gets made is much lower than what actually gets made, and so I think there’s some of that going on. I feel those are indies that are hard to make for their own specific reasons.

And I mean, like what is the, do you prioritize? Do you basically put one, two, three on these projects?

Pretty much. And hoping...with some you have certain attached cast and you know that they’re committed to this project or that, so the next window that could be is that, so it’s just a matrix to solve.

Do you know precisely what’s going to be your next project?

No, I know War Games will be, once it’s written that’ll be. I’m hoping to do a smaller one before that.

I do want to ask about War Games, because it’s kind of an interesting concept to bringing that idea into mind. The original is so based in cold war paranoia and new technologies, but how exactly do you bring that into the modern age?

It definitely is rooted in cold war paranoia, it’s definitely rooted in fear more than anything, and I feel like that certainly hasn’t changed. We are very, very afraid, and we’ve taken all these steps to make our country more secure, more safe in ways that actually don’t make us more safe at all. Meanwhile there’s been a real change in hacking, where people can go and often the age of the people who have been going to those places. And you see it weekly, those stories of, NSA was hacked, the White House email was hacked, a LulzSec does it again. There’s all these crazy, I have to say I think it’s actually quite a bit more plausible that someone in this day and age, rather than someone on a modem on their desk at home, war-dialing to hopefully get in to the videogame manufacturer of choice, that someone with some intent goes someplace they don’t mean to go, and starts something they don’t mean to start, like, you can buy that now.

Is LulzSec actually going to be a player?

No, I’m just saying that’s a sign of the times. Current events have events like this all the time, unwanted intrusions basically.

One of the things about it also, with the original, is that it is an accident, he doesn’t know that he’s doing it. But with the way technology has kind of moved forward, is it possible to hack into something without knowing exactly what you’re getting into, you think?

Absolutely. It’s also possible to participate in something unwittingly. What’s critical is that he be innocent, not that the particular type of hack be what it was back then. I also don’t find it plausible anymore that the list of games you could play would be in the directory, you just know more than you knew then. The abstract story stuff totally holds.

Have you thought about casting at all?

Well, it’s a little early. I mean basically the goal will be similar to the original in the sense that you have a normal kid who gets himself into hot water, as opposed to other versions of it where you could imagine it to be a much older guy who does it or whatever. I think the same idea of like a normal kid who gets in over his head is definitely going to hold.

I guess I’m curious, because the original documentary is so fantastic, what is the latest on the King of Kong feature?

So about three weeks ago, a writer turned in a draft that’s really, really strong. It’s a little too long so we have to cut it down and then New Line will make a decision about whether they want to do it or not. Things have changed internally over there about that story and with that company, and how many movies they make every year, but I would love working with those guys, so I think, honestly this would be a really strong choice.

Do you think that, will the project kind of incorporate what’s happened since the documentary?

It should incorporate some of it, absolutely. Even in the last few weeks it’s gotten crazy. It sort of never ends, but Billy founded an arcade at the Orlando airport. Do you know this? “King of Kong” arcade and he sells King of Kong hot dogs and he stole all of the artwork from the movie. It’s just awesome. And he still claims he hasn’t seen the movie, so we’ll see.

Do you believe it?

No. It’s one of many political, like the worst diplomacy I’ve ever seen honestly. Carefully lying in a way that’s totally obvious to everyone.

The plan is for you to direct, is that true?

I don’t know, I mean, I know the story really well. I don’t know who else would honestly.

Would you be willing to take liberties with the true story? As a feature film, you have so much more freedom.

I think we’re trapped. But in a way that’s what’s great about it. We know the material really well, we know the story really well. Those that paid attention and saw the doc know the story really well, so you’re not gonna get away with fabrication. So then it becomes about exploring within the boundaries of that with talented actors to unearth some stuff.

And have you, just in that sense have you given any thought to any casting there? Because I mean, you have some truly rich characters, I have to imagine that anybody would want to get their hands on.

Yeah, I’ve thought about it. But I mean honestly, all of a sudden Colin seems like a pretty interesting Billy, doesn’t he? And I don’t know who would play Steve, there’s a lot of opportunites and Brian Kuh? How great is that character? And Robert Mruczek, Steve Sanders, Roy Awesome. So I don’t know.

Warner Bros. has released several images and synopses for its 2011 comedy line-up including Crazy, Something Borrowed, and Hall Pass, but the most exciting release is this first image from Horrible Bosses which shows off maybe the funniest comedy trio since the Three Amigos.

Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day spread hilarity on SNL and It’s Always Sunny respectively, and Jason Bateman... well, he’s Jason Bateman, goddamn it. He was on Arrested Development for Christ’s sake. The man knows comedy. This team has joined forces for Seth Gordon who has given us quite a spread of content. His comedy background has him directing at least one episode of each of the NBC Thursday shows (save 30 Rock), Community, The Office, and Parks and Recreation, as well as an episode of Modern Family.

The film’s support is also very impressive. Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland, and Julie Bowen all co-star with the three front men.

There’s no doubt that 2011 will have some funny movies for us, but this is already a front runner to compete with the current favorite The Hangover Part II. Scope out the image and synopsis below.

In today's movie world, there's really no art left in the making of movie posters. Most marketing departments simply choose to throw some floating heads on a page, contrast some orange and blue coloring and ship it out to theaters. There is, of course, the occasional change up, a poster actually worthy of being called art, but 99 out of 100 times it will be the same old, same old. That said, marketing departments have reached a new low in their first poster for the documentary Freakonomics.

Posted by Cinematical, the first one sheet is a copy of the book cover. I don't mean a clever recreation. I mean the exact same image - an apple that has an orange for insides. If you want to be cute you can say that they've at least changed the angle, but you really should try to be less obnoxious. I understand that it may be a bit complicated to sell a documentary as complex Freakonomics, but this is the best they can do? How about sumo wrestlers? Klu Klux Klan members? Drug dealers? These are all things covered in the film, yet they decided to go with the most generic image they could. For shame.

Check out the poster below as well as the original book cover, and head over to Cinematical to see the poster full size.

Rashida Jones is best known in her Hollywood career as a series of pretty girls surrounded by funnier people-- she's been an excellent straight woman in TV"s The Office and Parks and Recreation as well as last year's I Love You Man. But in Celeste and Jesse Forever, Jones won't just get to be the star, but she also wrote the screenplay with Will McCormack. And now that King of Kong director Seth Gordon has signed on to direct the thing, it's up to him to help Jones bring the whole idea to life.

Variety reports that they're still looking for a male lead for the film, which is aiming to get started in April. Jones would play one half of a young couple in the midst of a divorce who try to keep up a friendship while starting the painful process of dating other people. McCormack will play a supporting role, presumably since they want a guy with a bigger name to step into the lead.

Gordon's first foray into feature directing was the misguided Four Christmases, but given how acclaimed King of Kong was, you imagine a better script might help him turn it all around. And Jones, after all, is more than just a pretty face-- she's a Harvard grad. I have a good feeling this will turn out better than Gordon's last movie.