Judd Apatow has blossomed into the Guy Who Can Do Anything. Seriously, if he showed up on Christmas Eve instead of Santa Claus I wouldn’t be surprised at all. If I saw him walking down the street at this point I’d expect to see flowers and bunnies and rainbows blossoming at his feet, with a constant tinkling sound of windchimes to mark his passing.
I mean, who else could get a sorta mainstream David Gordon Green picture produced, and then secure a summer opening slot for the sucker? Pineapple Express — produced by Apatow and starring and co-written by Apatow love child Seth Rogen (Evan Goldberg co-wrote) will open via Sony on August 8 next year.
It’s billed as a stoner comedy, which I’m not really thrilled about, but it’s a David Gordon Green movie, which mitigates pretty much everything. And it’s got Rogen on the run from some gangsters after he and his dealer (James Franco) see the bad guys put a bullet into some dude in a drug-related knock-off. Or is it cops? Variety says gangsters, other places say cops. *gasp!* Gangster cops!
You can already see the marketing, I’m sure, so audiences will think they’re in for a Judd Apatow film when they’re really (I hope I hope I hope) getting a David Gordon Green film. Normally I find the bait and switch reprehensible, but when it’s those guys involved, I’m able to find new reserves of patience. This’ll never open to the tune of Knocked Up‘s $30M, but it might do a respectable $15, and when you can take the $4.5 million Knocked Up made yesterday, move the decimal point two spaces to the left and still have more money than David Gordon Green’s biggest opening weekend, that’s pretty fucking fantastic.
Can I say his name a couple more times? David Gordon Green. David Gordon Green. I’m just so happy for the guy.