Directing Duo Turned Down ‘Bad Santa 2’
While the third act plot twist to “Crazy Stupid Love” is hugely contrived and runs against the careful blend of comedy and drama that runs through everything before, the nicely crafted tone from directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and the engaging performances from their ensemble cast led by Steve Carell, made it easy overlook some of the things that didn’t work. And it seems the experience was a good one for the lead actor and the directors alike, as they are planning another film together, albeit one that Carell will produce but not star in.
Speaking with Moviehole as the movie continues to roll out overseas, Ficarra and Requa spilled some details about the project they are cooking up with the former star of “The Office,” which already has a script finished. “We’re working on something with Steve also, that he’s producing. He’s not starring but it’s based on the idea he had. We wrote the script already,” Requa revealed. “It’s one of these three friends from college, but now they’re in their 40s, movies. They’re going on a European backpacking trip that they never did. And it’s filled with all this middle-aged fun.”
So, “The 40 Year Old Backpacker” then? This sounds like a ridiculously easy pitch to sell — “It’s like ‘The Hangover‘ meets ‘Euro Trip‘!” — and while there is no word yet on a star or even a studio, with Carell throwing his weight behind it, there should be no problem finding a home for the movie.
And while we wait for the writing and directing team to figure out what they are going to do next (they also have a con artist romance tale in the works), one film they will not be doing is “Bad Santa 2,” the sequel to the original they penned and that launched their Hollywood careers. In fact, they even turned it down.
“Yeah. They want us to direct it, but we said ‘No,'” Requa said, with Ficarra adding, “We’ll see how it goes. If it comes out great then that sells DVDs for the original. And if it comes out bad it makes the original seem that much better [laughter].” As you might remember, Dimension Films has commissioned two scripts so they can have their pick of the better piece of material for the film (or maybe they’ll just put together the best parts of each). Ficarra and Requa confirm that Billy Bob Thorton will be back, Terry Zwigoff won’t be directing either.
However, with “Crazy Stupid Love” now crossing $100 million worldwide, Ficarra and Requa will likely have their choice of projects, and it certainly won’t be the last we hear from this duo anytime soon.