While Hollywood executives are always trying to formulate what combination of talent will lead to a big screen hit, sometimes it's as simple as taking a proven success and hoping it will repeat itself. And no, we're not talking about a sequel.
Sony is pairing up "Bad Teacher" director Jake Kasdan with the film's star Jason Segel, for "Sex Tape." The duo helped turn last year's R-rated comedy into one of the biggest hits of the year — taking in over $200 million on a slim $20 million budget. That's math you can't ignore, so no surprise the studio is banking on them again. First announced last year — with Reese Witherspoon as a potential co-star (seems she's out) and Nicholas Stoller to direct (though scheduling forced him out) — the Kate Angelo penned story follows a married couple who take a night off from their kids and decide to spice up their lives by making a sex tape. But when they wake up the next morning from their night of amateur porno making, they tape is gone and they have to track it down.
This is a pretty good, if overly familiar concept, but we kind of thought the same about "Bad Teacher," which this writer thought turned out much better than expected. So we'll give everyone the benefit of the doubt here. This one is apparently a big priority at the studio, so we presume this will come next for Kasdan, before other projects he's signed up for recently, including the action comedy "Family Getaway" and an untitled project he has brewing with "Bad Teacher" writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. [Variety]