by Rick Duran
2008 is a big year for Hollywood's Comedy Clique. We've got the highly anticipated Ben Stiller/Jack Black action comedy Tropic Thunder, two Will Ferrell movies (Semi-Pro and Step Brothers), Steve Carell's big screen adaptation of Get Smart and Vince Vaughn's holiday romp Four Christmases.
Still not enough? Judd Apatow brings us Owen Wilson's Drillbit Taylor, and new projects from his Comedy Mafia members Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson also bring us their dramedies The Marc Pease Experience and Henry Poole is Here.
Need to entertain the kids? You can find Frat Pack members Carell, Black and
Stiller lending their voices to Horton Hears a Who, Kung-Fu Panda and Madagascar 2.
Over
Her Deady Body
Director: Jeff Lowell
Starring: Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs, Steven Root
Summary: A ghost (Longoria) haunts her ex-boyfriend (Rudd) after he begins
dating a psychic (Bell).
Release Date: February 1, 2008
Strange
Wilderness
Director: Fred Wolf
Starring: Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Ashley Scott, Justin
Long, Jeff Garlin
Summary: Animal enthusiast Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) and his sidekick
Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) host an ailing wildlife TV show "Strange Wilderness,"
which is in a steep ratings decline. Desperate to save the show, Peter hatches
a Hail Mary scheme to find the one animal that could truly turn the show around
and change the nature show landscape forever – Bigfoot...
Release Date: February 1, 2008
Vince
Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show
Director: Ari Sandel
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, Sebastian
Mansicalco
Summary: Produced by Vince Vaughn, the film follows Vaughn as he handpicks
four up-and-coming comics and then leads them on a remarkable 30-city, 30-day,
30-show tour as tour creator and emcee. The film features footage from the tour's
performances, as well as behind-the-scenes and a host of surprise guests.
Release Date: February 8, 2008
Be Kind
Rewind
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def.
Summary: A man becomes accidentally magnetized and erases all the tapes
in the video store where his best friend works. To save the store, the duo re-enact
and re-film every movie that its single loyal customer, an elderly woman, rents.
Release Date: February 22, 2008
Semi-Pro
Director: Kent Alterman
Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre 'Andre 3000' Benjamin,
Jay Phillips, Will Arnett
Summary: The American Basketball Association is on the verge of collapse,
and when former NBA benchwarmer returns Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) to his hometown
of Flint, Michigan to whip his former team into shape for the playoffs, redemption
is just a free-throw away in this period sports comedy costarring Woody Harrelson.
Penned by Old School scribe Scot Armstrong, Semi-Pro tells the tale of a 1970s-era
basketball player who doesn't have much luck in the NBA, but vows to leave his
mark on the sport by coaching the Flint Tropics to an unlikely victory in the
biggest game of the year.
Release Date: February 29, 2008
Horton
Hears a Who
Director: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino
Starring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett,
Isla Fisher, Dan Fogler, Amy Poehler, Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Jonah Hill
Summary: Horton, a loveable elephant (voiced by Carrey), angers the community
of Whoville after becoming obsessed with the possibility of life on a speck
of dust.
Release Date: March 14, 2008
Drillbit
Taylor
Director: Steven Brill
Starring: Owen Wilson, Alex Frost, Casey Boersma, Dylan Boersma, Troy
Gentile, Nate Hartley, Leslie Mann, Danny McBride
Summary: Ryan, Wade and Emmit attend their first day at high school and
they're pumped … until they meet up with Filkins, a school bully who comes
off like a little Hannibal Lecter. Before they become completely engulfed in
Filkins' reign of terror, they seek out some protection by placing an ad in
Soldier of Fortune magazine. Their best response – and the cheapest - comes
from Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), a down-on-his luck soldier of fortune who
lives a homeless - he likes to say "home free" – existence on
the beach. He enrolls them in some physical and mental training.
Release Date: March 21, 2008
Forgetting
Sarah Marshall
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand, Mila Kunis, Jonah
Hill, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer.
Summary: Struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) has his world
is rocked when his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell),
dumps him and Peter finds himself alone. After an unsuccessful bout of womanizing
and an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just
ruin his life.To clear his head, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Oahu, where
he is confronted by his worst nightmare: his ex and her tragically hip new British-rocker
boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), are sharing his hotel. Judd Apatow and Shauna
Robertson are producing and Segel penned the script.
Release Date: April 18, 2008
Baby
Mama
Director: Michael McCullers
Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Dax Shepard, Erica Berg, Sigourney Weaver,
Maurna Tierney, Greg Kinnear, Romany Malco, Steve Martin, Holland Taylor
Summary: Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey)
has long put her career ahead of a personal life. Now 37, she's finally determined
to have a kid on her own. But her plan is thrown a curve ball after she discovers
she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. Undaunted, the driven
Kate allows South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) to become
her unlikely surrogate.
Release Date: April 25, 2008
The
Foot Fist Way
Director: Jody Hill
Starring: Danny McBride, Ben Best, Mary Jane Bostwick, Jody Hill
Summary: Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons (McBride) retreats into
exile after an embarassing fight with the man cheating on his wife. Will Ferrell
and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions will distribute this cult favorite
from the Sundance Film Festival.
Release Date: May 30, 2008
Kung
Fu Panda
Director: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie
Chan, Ian McShane
Summary: "Kung Fu Panda" features Jack Black as Po the Panda,
a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant, who is a kung fu fanatic but whose shape
doesn't exactly lend itself to kung fu fighting. In fact, Po's defining characteristic
appears to be that he is the laziest of all the animals in ancient China. That's
a problem because powerful enemies are at the gates, and all hopes have been
pinned on a prophesy naming Po as the "Chosen One" to save the day.
A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if
they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it's
too late.
Release Date: June 6, 2008
The Promotion (formerly Quebec)
Director: Steve Conrad
Starring: Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Fred Armisen, Lili Taylor
Summary: Two assistant managers of a corporate grocery store vie for a coveted promotion.
Release Date: June 6, 2008
Get
Smart
Director: Peter Segal
Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Terence
Stamp, Alan Arkin, David Koechner.
Summary: Maxwell Smart (Carell) is on a mission to thwart the latest
plot for world domination by the evil crime syndicate known as KAOS. When the
headquarters of U.S. spy agency Control is attacked and the identities of its
agents compromised, the Chief (Arkin) has no choice but to promote his ever-eager
analyst Maxwell Smart, who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside
stalwart superstar Agent 23 (Johnson). Smart is partnered instead with the only
other agent whose identity has not been compromised: the lovely-but-lethal veteran
Agent 99 (Hathaway).
Release Date: June 20, 2008
Step
Brothers
Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Adam Scott, Mary Steenburgen,
Kathryn Hahn
Summary: Two coddled guys live with their respective single parents.
Their folks fall in love and marry, making the guys stepbrothers.
Release Date: July 25, 2008
The
Rocker
Director: Peter Cattoneo
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone,
Jane Lynch, Will Arnett
Summary: Twenty years afer being kicked out of a soon-to-be-famous heavy
metal band, drummer Robert "Fish" Fisman finds a second chance at
glory by joining a high school rock band.
Release Date: August 1, 2008
Pineapple
Express
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Danny McBride,
Amber Heard
Summary: An action-flavored buddy comedy concerning two pot-smoking friends
(Seth Rogen and James Franco) who unwittingly become involved with a vicious
gang of drug dealers. Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson produce a script co-penned
by star Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad).
Release Date: August 8, 2008
Tropic
Thunder
Director: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, Bill
Hader, Justin Theroux, Reggie Lee, Matt Levin, Brandon T. Jackson, Andrea De
Oliveira
Summary: Ben Stiller is starring as Tugg Speedman, an action movie star
who, along with four other macho co-stars, is forced to rely on his boot camp
skills to stay alive when things go horribly awry on their new movie. Ben co-wrote
the comedy screenplay with Justin Theroux (Zoolander, Charlie's Angels Full
Throttle) and Etan Cohen (Idiocracy). Jack Black will play Jeff “Fats”
Portnoy, an overweight gross-out comedian from "The Fatties" franchise,
who’s forced to kick his drug addiction while filming on location in the
jungle.
Release Date: August 15, 2008
Henry
Poole is Here
Director: Mark Pellington
Starring: Luke Wilson, Cheryl Hines, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Jessica
Walter
Summary: After learning his life may be ending soon, Henry Poole abandons
his fiancee to die alone. However, the local residents show him a new outlook
on life.
Release Date: August 15, 2008
Madagascar:
The Crate Escape
Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Andy Richter,
David Schwimmer
Summary: Left marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar, the New Yorkers
have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the
penguins have repaired an old crashed plane - sort of. Once aloft, this unlikely
crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all
- the vast plains of Africa itself -- where our zoo-raised crew encounters species
of their own
Release Date: November 7, 2008
Four
Christmases
Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Kristin Chenoweth, Robert
Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Dwight Yoakam
Summary: Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn pair up for this Christmas
comedy about a couple who has to visit four different sets of parents as a result
of divorce.
Release Date: November 21, 2008
Marley and Me
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston
Summary: A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog. Based on the memoir by John Grogan.
Release Date: December 19, 2008
The
Marc Pease Experience
Director: Todd Louiso
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Todd Louiso, Ben Stiller, Jay Paulson, Anna
Kendrick
Summary: Marc Pease (Schwartzman), who is ten years out of high school,
still lives in the past when he was the star in the high school's musicals.
During the course of one day, as his former teacher/mentor (Stiller) oversees
the opening night of another show, Pease finally exorcises his demons and realizes
there's more to life than Broadway artistry.
Release Date: TBA 2008
The
Goods: The Don Ready Story
Director: Neal Brennan
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner, Katheryn Hahn, Tony
Hale, Ken Jeong
Summary: A used car liquidator (Piven) is called to rescue a struggling
used car lot during the crucial Fourth of July sales weekend. Will Ferrell and
Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions is producing.
Release Date: TBA 2008
Fanboys
Director: Kyle Newman
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Dan Fogler, Chris Marquette, Seth
Rogen
Summary: A team of Star Wars fans attempt to break into Skywalker Ranch
to bring an early copy of The Phantom Menace to their dying friend.
Release Date: TBA 2008
Spring
Breakdown
Director: Ryan Shiraki
Starring: Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch, Jane Lynch, Will
Arnett
Summary: Three thirtysomething friends (Poehler, Dratch, Posey) break
the monotony of their uninspired lives by vacationing on an island that's a
popular spring break getaway for college co-eds. One of the women works for
a powerful senator (Lynch) whose daughter is one of those co-eds, only she's
as geeky as her chaperones.
Release Date: TBA 2008
Untitled
Mentor Project (formerly Little Big Men)
Director: David Wain
Starring: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elizabeth
Banks, Jane Lynch
Summary: Wild behavior forces two energy drink salesmen (Rudd and Scott)
to enroll in a Big Brothers program.
Release Date: TBA 2008
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