When Forgetting Sarah Marshall conceded the May 30, 2008 weekend to Sex and the City (opting instead for a less splashy mid-April berth), folks around town viewed that as a sign of trouble. The mighty Judd Apatow kowtowing to an uncalled-for big screen transfer of a passé television show? He must not have the goods this time.
I’m embargoed on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but do you think Apatow would set up another Jason Segel/Nick Stoller combo if their last collaboration was a misfire? Trust me, all is well with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and I can’t wait to see what this team does with Five-Year Engagement, which will also be produced for Universal by Apatow and Shauna Robertson. The premise sounds simple enough: Segel stars as a regular guy who suffers through the highs and lows of a lengthy engagement. As expected, it’ll skew toward the raunchy, R-rated side of relationship comedies, which suggests it’ll be as painfully spot-on as most of Apatow’s movies. I like how director/co-writer Stoller explained it to Variety: “It’s definitely an extension of our desire to explore the depth of human misery. If Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) and Jason’s character had stayed together, this might be the sequel.” Nothing good could come of those two staying together, so this should be a lovely parade of pain.
Variety doesn’t list a start date for the film, but with the rush to get everything shot out before June 30th (and most of the town being completely booked), I have a feeling that this won’t get rushed into production. Of course, I reserve the right to be completely wrong about this.