If you’ve seen the trailer for the upcoming “Dinner For Schmucks,” you know Paul Rudd is playing the straight man…again. Either he must relish riffing while in ordinary guy mode or he’s being viciously typecast. Now, Rudd is looking to break the mold by looking to pick up roles in two very dark comedies — “Better Living Through Chemistry” and “Horrible Bosses.” Production Weekly reports that he is seeking the role of one Douglas Varney in “Chemistry” and the lead Nick in “Horrible Bosses.”
“Chemistry,” was written by David Posamentier and Geoff Moore. Vulture reported back in February that the two authors were also slated to direct the dark comedy, which “centers on a small-town pharmacist in a hopeless marriage, who finds new passion for life in an affair with a trophy wife who introduces him to prescription drugs. When they begin to plot her husband’s murder, things begin to crumble.” With Rudd’s likeness attached, we’d guess Doug Varney may well be the husband in question. Posamentier and Moore describe “Chemistry” as a “character-driven dramedy,” and although Rudd has stayed away from drama lately, his turn in Neil LaBute’s acidic “The Shape of Things” was definitely a highlight.
Variety reported that New Line bought “Bosses,” a spec script by Michael Markowitz way back in February 2005. The film “revolves around a trio of long-suffering friends who team up to murder their overbearing bosses with disastrous results, in the style of ‘Throw Mama From the Train.'” The script was associated with several directors way back when, including Frank Oz (“The Score,” “The Stepford Wives,” and the original “Death At A Funeral”). Back in January, the LA Times reported that Seth Gordon was in “advanced negotiations” to direct it. Gordon, who directed the unfortunate “Four Christmases,” got a lot of critical love for 2007’s “The King of Kong” and recently worked on a segment of the super-documentary adaptation of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s “Freakonomics.” If cast, Rudd would play Nick, one of the leads. Gordon showed an affinity for the common man in “Kong” and this dark comedy might suit him just fine given his slightly off-kilter satirizing approach to expert Kong player and hot sauce entrepreneur Billy Mitchell.