James McAvoy is set to star as a 25-year-old who battles cancer (hopefully with lasers while riding a puma) in a comedy produced by Seth Rogan, Ben Karlin, and Evan Goldberg (AKA “The Jew Crew”).  It’s based on screenwriter Will Reiser’s autobiographical novel I’m With Cancer.  Rogen will also have a role in the film.

They aren’t planning to title the movie I’m With Cancer, which is good, because I don’t think the word “cancer” sounds like a comedy at all.

Variety reports:

It will be the first pic Rogen and Goldberg have produced together. They penned the Judd Apatow-produced laffers Superbad and Pineapple Express and were executive producers on those films. They’re also exec producing actioner The Green Hornet at Sony.

Whoa.  Hang on.  “Laffers”?  “Actioner”?  Did this summabitch just say Superbad and Pineapple Express were laffers and The Green Hornet is an actioner?  You can’t just make up words, you wizzlscatgiraffe.  Go eat a bag of cancer.

Hmm, maybe I was wrong.  Somebody getting cancer could be funny.

~ robopanda

A while back I reported that a self-help book written by a nine-year-old had been optioned by (who else) Fox.  And now they’re going forward with it.  They just hired a couple Hollywood Jews* to write the script.

Writers Ben Karlin and Stu Zicherman who paired to write the spec script “A.C.O.D. (Adult Children of Divorce),” will adapt “How to Talk to Girls,” a self-help book written by fourth-grader Alex Greven [pictured]. Karlin has been a writer and executive producer on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.” Zicherman was a co-writer/creator of ABC’s “Six Degrees,” and he co-wrote the feature “Elektra.”

Before HarperCollins published it in November, Greven was selling his handwritten pamphlet at his school book fair, offering his peers tips on communicating with their fairer schoolmates, beyond pulling hair and kicking shins. [yahoo]

A lot of people talk about the sensitive kids getting picked on in school, but it’s also important to note that they usually deserve it. Anyway, I know I and probably you got really angry about a nine-year-old writing a self-help book the first time I reported on this, but we should consider that his competition is Oprah and Dr. Phil.  Dr. Phil is 300 pounds and writes diet books.  No way either of those two tubbies reasons at higher than a fourth-grade level.

*I mean, I’m assuming.  Can we just agree that it sounds best like this?