It looks like Judd Apatow‘s return to the director’s chair will be in a big way.  Deadline reports the “King Of Staten Island” director will work with Steven Spielberg on Sony‘s “Cola Wars,” about Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s 1980s battle for soda supremacy. Spielberg produces the feature through his Amblin Entertainment banner. It’s Apatow’s first film since 2022’s poorly-received “The Bubble.”

READ MORE: 3 Judd Apatow Projects Apparently Couldn’t Get Greenlit, Including A Cancel Comedy Starring Zach Galifianakis [Report]

“Cola Wars” has been inching toward production since Sony bought the project in April as a pitch for over $1 million.

Continue reading ‘Cola Wars’: Judd Apatow To Direct Movie About Coke & Pepsi’s ’80s Battle For Soda Supremacy, With Steven Spielberg Producing at The Playlist.

Earlier this week, comedy writer/director Judd Apatow ended his 30-year relationship with his agency UTA, Deadline describing it as a “magical run” (lol). Trades run lip service-y pieces like this all the time: actors, filmmakers, and talent-changing agencies as a way to generate press for these companies and as tacit understanding for staying in good favor with agents who are the ones often feeding them leaks, exclusives, and scoops.

So, other than Apatow leaving an agency he loyally stuck with for 30 years, there’s no real story there.

Continue reading 3 Judd Apatow Projects Apparently Couldn’t Get Greenlit, Including A Cancel Comedy Starring Zach Galifianakis [Report] at The Playlist.

Even before they turned up on “Saturday Night Live,” taking over the Digital Shorts duty from the Lonely Island trio—which is still the best element of ‘SNL’ these days—the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy) were seemingly destined for greatness. Their viral videos about the COVID-19 pandemic that blew up on Twitter and TikTok were hysterical, and when they landed that coveted ‘SNL’ gig in short order, it felt like a well-deserved no-brainer.

Continue reading ‘Please Don’t Destroy’ Review: ‘The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain’ Has LOL Moments, But Is Largely An Absurdist Mess at The Playlist.

“Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain” premieres on Peacock, November 17 this weekend. The feature-length debut effort of the eponymous comedy team Please Don’t Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy), the trio who are currently the “Saturday Night Live” Digital Shorts creator, the film is a hilarious absurdist treat. And it is perhaps the most wacky, out-there, and oddball film the movie’s producer, Judd Apatow, has ever produced.

Continue reading ‘Please Don’t Destroy’: Judd Apatow Talks Mentoring & Supporting The “Insane Madness” Out Of ‘The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain’ Comedy at The Playlist.

“Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain” premieres on Peacock, November 17 this weekend. It is the feature-length debut of the titular comedy team Please Don’t Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy), the trio currently the “Saturday Night Live” Digital Shorts creators. Directed by Paul Briganti (who already directs many of the trios’ SNL’ shorts), ‘The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain’ was written by and stars Marshall, Higgins, and Herlihy and centers on three friends who live together with aimless lives.

Continue reading Judd Apatow Says He’s Co-Directing A Maria Bamford Comedy Doc & Producing A Series Pitch With ‘The Bear’s Chris Witaske at The Playlist.

Next week, on November 17, the comedy “Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain” hits the NBC’s streaming service Peacock. It’s a wild, absurdist comedy produced by Judd Apatow for its stars and creators, “Saturday Night Live” Digital Shorts comedians Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, and Ben Marshall. We’ll be getting to that interview soon, focusing on Apatow’s mentoring and how he’s spent much of his career—when not writing and directing his feature films— mentoring and producing films for comedians who were or are on the rise at the time (see Amy Schumer in “Train Wreck,” “The Big Sick” for Emily V.

Continue reading Judd Apatow Says Hasn’t Given Up On ‘This Is 50,’ But Has A Different New Movie Written & Ready To Go at The Playlist.

Well, this is a big bummer and perhaps an unfortunate sign that Universal has lost faith in the project, at least on the theatrical level. “Please Don’t Destroy,” the new upcoming comedy from the “Saturday Night Live” trio Please Don’t Destroy, produced by Judd Apatow, is no longer going to be released theatrically by Universal. Instead, Variety reports that the film, that the film will debut on Peacock instead later this summer.

Continue reading Universal Drops ‘Please Don’t Destroy’s Judd Apatow-Produced Comedy From Theatrical Release; Shifting To Peacock Instead at The Playlist.

It would seem as if every Quentin Tarantino film always features at least one surprising, standout performance. The headline actors always deliver, but the real surprise is how amazing some of the supporting cast turns out to be, as those characters often are the more risky, interesting roles. And in the case of “Inglourious Basterds,” one of the standout, supporting roles is the Bear Jew, played by Eli Roth.

Continue reading Quentin Tarantino Says Adam Sandler Wasn’t In ‘Inglourious Basterds’ Because Judd Apatow “Wrapped Up All The Good Jews” For ‘Funny People’ at The Playlist.

The R-rated teen comedy “Superbad” helped launch multiple film careers and was a breakout feature for its screenwriting duo, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, entering the world of filmmaking which would lead to them directing their own films such as “This Is The End” and producing multiple popular television shows such as Amazon’s “The Boys.” Even the young cast ended up becoming well-known names themselves with Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Bill Hader, and future Oscar-winner Emma Stone (“La La Land”).

Continue reading Christopher Mintz-Plasse Really Annoyed Jonah Hill During ‘Superbad’ Audition/Filming at The Playlist.

Going back to the 1970s, “Saturday Night Live” has long been a breeding ground and launching pad for comedians transforming into bonafide stars. Sometimes that’s SNL regulars, sometimes its writers turned filmmakers (Adam McKay, for example), and sometimes it’s whole package teams like The Lonely Island crew who write, direct and star in their shorts and films. Taking a page from the Lonely Island gang is their successors, Please Don’t Destroy, a similar absurdist comedy trio that now handles all the digital shorts for SNL.

Continue reading Judd Apatow & SNL Digital Shorts Team ‘Please Don’t Destroy’ Are Making A New Universal Buddy Comedy Set For Summer 2023 at The Playlist.

With Pride Month in full swing, it only makes sense that Universal Pictures wants to promote their upcoming romantic comedy “Bros” as much as possible. And “Boys” deserves all the hype it can get. The film is the first ever to star an openly gay actor who co-writes the script in Billy Eichner and features an entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast. 

READ MORE: ‘Bros’ NSFW Trailer: Billy Eichner Stars In Judd Apatow Produced Gay Romantic Comedy This September

So does that make “Boys” the gayest movie ever?

Continue reading ‘Bros’ New Trailer: Billy Eichner Stars In Judd Apatow Produced Gay Rom-Com On September 30 at The Playlist.

No one would accuse Judd Apatow of being a concise writer or director. When he is at his best — “Knocked Up,” “Funny People” — his runtimes allow characters to develop and breathe, creating lived-in worlds. Yet, recently, that same penchant for listless pacing has shown its limitations, especially in his most recent film, “The Bubble.” His documentary work has been similarly languid in its pacing, but also showcases a deep ethnographic affinity for the world of stand-up comedy.

Continue reading ‘George Carlin’s American Dream’ Review: A Comprehensive & Incisive Exploration Of Carlin’s Political Comedy at The Playlist.

While many film fans know Judd Apatow from being the writer-director of some massive comedy films such as “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” the filmmaker actually started out as a stand-up comic. And because of that, you can see how he honors the craft of stand-up comedy in the film “Funny People,” as well as putting the spotlight on legends such as in the doc, “The Zen Diaries of Gary Shandling.” Now, Apatow is ready to showcase perhaps the most famous stand-up of them all, George Carlin.

Continue reading ‘George Carlin’s American Dream’ Trailer: Judd Apatow Covers The Career Of The Iconic Comedian In A New Doc at The Playlist.

“For once in my life, I wanted to make a movie without having all the responsibilities.” So moans Jeff, the director on the film-within-a-film in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Beware of a Holy Whore.” The West German drama sequesters a movie crew in a coastal Spanish hotel, where the combination of cabin fever and psychological discord between a group of insecure, neurotic people breeds the rarefied level of hysteria only found in show business.

Continue reading ‘The Bubble’ Review: Judd Apatow’s Pandemic Filmmaking Blockbuster Comedy Is An Epic Disaster at The Playlist.

Judd Apatow loves taking some of life’s most interesting moments and turning them into comedies. “Knocked Up” took a look at the ridiculousness that sometimes surrounds a pregnancy. “This is 40” dove deep into the moment when you approach middle age. And “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” put the spotlight on…well, the time when people are middle-aged and also a virgin. Okay, so some are more universal than others.

Continue reading ‘This Is 50’: Judd Apatow Is Developing A Sequel To His Comedy ‘This Is 40’ at The Playlist.

The pandemic has been brutal for the entire world over the past two years. But haven’t you wondered what COVID has been like for the Hollywood crowd? Well, thankfully we have Judd Apatow here to give us a comedic look at the pandemic and its effect on filmmaking in the new film, “The Bubble.”

READ MORE: Netflix Reportedly Will Not Premiere Films At This Year’s Cannes Film Festival

As seen in the trailer for the film, “The Bubble” takes place during the height of the pandemic, in the fall of 2020, with a group of big-name actors trying to film a long-awaited sequel to the “Cliff Beasts” franchise.

Continue reading ‘The Bubble’ Trailer: Judd Apatow Crafts A COVID Comedy With An All-Star Cast at The Playlist.

During the early part of COVID, it was revealed that Judd Apatow was writing a new film that was expected to tell the story of a group of actors having to make a film while in a pandemic “bubble” where they are cut off from most of the outside world. Since then, not much has been known except for the casting, and if you’re only going on the new teaser from Netflix, you’re not going to learn much else about “The Bubble.”

READ MORE: ‘The Bubble’: Judd Apatow’s Pandemic Comedy To Star Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillan, Keegan-Michael Key, Maria Bakalova & Others

As seen in the teaser, you won’t even know that the film they’re promoting is actually called “The Bubble.” Instead of a typical trailer, Netflix has decided to do a teaser for the film-within-a-film, “Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle For Everest.” That film looks like a mix of “Jurassic World” meets “Jumanji,” as it follows a group of adventurers having to climb a mountain and fight monsters.

Continue reading ‘The Bubble’ Teaser: Judd Apatow’s COVID Comedy About Blockbuster Filmmaking Gets A Meta Peek From Netflix at The Playlist.

Netflix and Judd Apatow are teaming up for a comedy titled “The Bubble,” as mentioned in Deadline’s new report. They also add the film’s impressive cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillan, “Borat 2” actress Maria Bakalova, Keegan-Michael Key, Iris Apatow, Fred Armisen, David Duchovny, Leslie Mann, and Peter Serafinowicz. 

Continue reading ‘The Bubble’: Judd Apatow’s Pandemic Comedy To Star Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillan, Keegan-Michael Key, Maria Bakalova & Others at The Playlist.

Continue reading Judd Apatow Says WB Showed “Disrespect” With HBO Max Decision Which Made Him “Appreciate Universal” at The Playlist.

There are few constants in the career of Judd Apatow. That’s just something that comes with the territory when you have a long career in Hollywood. However, if there is one true constant, it’s that Apatow films are going to be made in a partnership with Universal. Well, until now.

READ MORE: Judd Apatow Has An “Amazing” ‘Pineapple Express’ Sequel In Mind That “Deserves To Happen”

According to Deadline, Apatow has signed with Netflix to direct a new ensemble comedy film.

Continue reading Judd Apatow To Direct Netflix Comedy Feature About Actors Making A Film In A Pandemic Bubble at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage, and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This biweekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching. 

Two potentially major productions caught in the wheels of the lockdown hit disc and (reasonable) VOD this week, alongside a Sundance doc on Apple TV+,  a lovely new musical bio-doc, and the usual bushel of marvelous catalog titles from Criterion, Warner Archive, and Kino-Lorber.

Continue reading The 13 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The King of Staten Island,’ ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ & More at The Playlist.

“The King of Staten Island” and the contemporary King of Comedy come together on this episode of The Discourse, the show where we discuss film and television news, reviews, and any other pertinent pop culture items that we feel the need to weigh in on.

READ MORE: ‘The King Of Staten Island’: A Charming Cast Energizes A Formulaic Story In Judd Apatow’s Latest [Review]

This week, I’m joined by Nick Allen (RogerEbert.com, Vulture, MEL Magazine, The AV Club) to look back on the directorial career of Judd Apatow.

Continue reading Funny With Heart & Dad Vibes: Judd Apatow’s Essentials [Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

There seems to be multiple strategies at play with regards to when a film is being released by a major studio due to COVID-19. First, you can just delay the film until theaters are reopened and life is somewhat back to “normal.” Second, you can sell the film off to a streaming service, placing the release strategy on them and move forward with new projets. Or third, you can skip theaters entirely and just release the film as it is, on Premium VOD (PVOD) at a higher price.

Continue reading Judd Apatow Didn’t Want To Delay ‘King Of Staten Island’ Because It’s “Destined To Be Seen Right Now” at The Playlist.

We live in an era of filmmaking where studios are constantly seeking new franchises to build. And even if a film does moderately well at the box office, a sequel is often greenlit and developed, no matter if it’s a terrible idea or not. But sometimes, a film is released and finds an audience, but the filmmakers associated just can’t seem to get a sequel going, as is apparently the case with the 2008 film, “Pineapple Express.”

In a new interview with LAD Bible, Judd Apatow, who helped develop and produce “Pineapple Express, said that he’s been trying to get a sequel to his stoner buddy comedy made for years, but there hasn’t been much movement on it.

Continue reading Judd Apatow Has An “Amazing” ‘Pineapple Express’ Sequel In Mind That “Deserves To Happen” at The Playlist.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a lovable loser in a state of perpetual arrested development. A group of friends that love and support, but are probably holding him/her back. A good girl/guy, offering up a real relationship. A new, better life, if they’d only grow up a little. 

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2020

This is the story of “The King of Staten Island,” the new film by Judd Apatow.

Continue reading ‘The King Of Staten Island’: A Charming Cast Energizes A Formulaic Story In Judd Apatow’s Latest [Review] at The Playlist.