John Leguizamo has carved out a career that sees him going from the stage to the big screen to TV and back again, with barely a moment to catch his breath. He broods in dramas when required, and plays the comic card quite easily as well, one only has to look at his movie roles for 2012 — with stints scheduled in "Kick-Ass 2" and "The Counselor" — to see just how varied his work can get. But one of his next gigs will see him pulling out another card from the deck stacked with laffs.
The actor will join Ice Cube and Kevin Hart in the long-developing comedy "Ride Along." After years of kicking around at New Line and going through a number of writers, Universal is finally moving on the project that recently received a re-write from scribes Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay. The story follows a grade school teacher (Hart) who has his sight on marrying his girlfriend, but first must pass a rigorous set of trials from her policeman brother (Cube) who harbors some strong feeling on the couple's union. Hilarity and motor mouthed gags will certainly ensue, and Leguizamo is along for the…ride (ha) as an undercover cop.
The action comedy will be directed Tim Story ("Barbershop," “Taxi,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”) who will hopefully get out of the way of the cast and just let them do their thing. No exact date yet to start shooting, but it looks like it'll be any day now. [THR]