The comedy world got a little bit of a kick in the ass with the coming of the web era, thanks to websites like Funny or Die, which have enabled big stars to team up with emerging writing and directing talent, providing an important foothold into the industry for many, and plenty of laughs for the rest of us. Funny Or Die have already made many inroads into other media, thanks to an HBO compilation show, and now rival CollegeHumor Media looks to get in on the act by financing and producing their first feature film.
The company have announced, via The Hollywood Reporter, that they're backing "Coffee Town," which will mark the directorial debut of "Arrested Development," "My Name Is Earl" and "Wild Hogs" writer Brad Copeland, who's also penned the script.
The film revolves around a group of thirtysomething friends whose comfortable existence is threatened (which seems a little vague; we're sure there's more to it), and Howerton looks to follow the success of "The Hangover" and "Horrible Bosses" by giving lead role breaks to some familiar small screen faces. Glenn Howerton will follow his "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" co-star Charlie Day to the film world by taking the lead role, while Steve Little (Stevie from "Eastbound & Down"), Ben Schwartz (Jean-Ralphio from "Parks and Recreation") and singer-songwriter Josh Groban ("Crazy Stupid Love") are in support.
It's certainly a promising cast; we can only hope that Copeland's script lives up to them. Filming gets underway in LA next month, and while CollegeHumor haven't yet planned a release date, we should see the film sometime in 2013.