The answer is probably “No,” but it’s an intriguing prospect and you just never know what might happen. Last summer, it was revealed that Judd Apatow would be producing a brand new Pee Wee Herman movie but it appears as Apatow may consider the director’s chair as well.
Doing the rounds at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Paul Reubens revealed that Apatow is toying with the idea of both producing and directing saying, “Judd has not decided, I guess he’s waiting to read the script, which is not completed yet.” Yeah, we’re sure Apatow is curious but something tells us he’s not likely to take it on. Simply put, the guy can write his own ticket and direct projects based off his own scripts with the kind of ease and open studio arms most directors would kill for. We just don’t see Apatow taking on someone else’s script unless he can make it is own but we think he’s likely to stick to exploring the world, characters and relationships he’s carved out in his run of films to date.
But that said, Apatow does have clear ideas about what he would like in the film as a producer. “Judd very much wanted to do a reality-based film that’s very much more like ‘Big Adventure.’ So this is a road picture is what we’re writing right now,” Reubens said, indicating that any darker take on his iconic character is on hold for now.
The film is still early stages as Reubens and co-writer Paul Rust have only completed the first act. But you know, Tim Burton‘s “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” is stone cold classic and pretty much better than anything he’s done in the past few years by a country mile. If a new film can even approach that film’s brilliance we’re totally on board whether Apatow directs or not (and something tells us that, as much as we love him, he might not be the best fit for the director’s chair). Any suggestions on who should direct?
In the meantime, Judd Apatow is going full force into his next feature gearing up to shoot this summer, a currently untitled spinoff of “Knocked Up” with Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprising their roles as married couple Pete and Debbie. While we didn’t love the overly long and slightly unfocused “Funny People” if it’s anywhere in the ballpark of “40 Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” we’ll be plenty happy.