The first publicity image has been released from Judd Apatow’s This is Forty, a movie about Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd’s characters set a few years after Knocked Up. And yes, Judd Apatow cast his real wife and kids again (Maude and Iris, 14 and 9), with Paul Rudd as his stand in. Which isn’t that weird a fetish when you think about it.

Apatow’s first directing effort since 2009′s “Funny People” — picks up with the family a few years after “Knocked Up.” Pete’s music label is struggling and Debbie’s vanity business, a dress shop staffed by the comely Desi (Megan Fox) and the awkward Jodi (Charlyne Yi), needs to help cover the household budget.

Holy sh*t, this sounds incredible! Wait, what’s ‘comely’ mean?

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Bridesmaids earned $288 million on a $32 million budget this past year, long-overdue vindication for our decision to give women the right to vote. And when you make that much money on a comedy, people expect you to make a sequel. Hell, Mike Myers is still trying to make Austin Powers 4, and Austin Powers is older than my last three girlfriends. So what do you say, Kristin Wiig? Will we get  Meet your Fockers someday?

The mystery is why Universal has made so little progress on launching a Bridesmaids 2 — and why the star of the film is refusing to do a reprise. “We aren’t working on that,” Wiig, who co-wrote the film with Annie Mumolo, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Annie and I aren’t planning a sequel. We are writing something else.”
With Wiig balking [my cousin went to juvie for Wiig balking -Ed.], Universal chief Ron Meyer took her to dinner in New York to see whether he could change her mind. He likely dangled an eight-figure payday before her, but the 38-year-old star held firm.

Yes, her not wanting to do a sequel is a mystery, alright. I bet when those studio execs smelled integrity, they all pointed at her and shrieked like body snatchers.

BUT WAIT! There must be a better explanation for this easily-explainable decision!

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"Knock knock... who's there? Your heart."

Thanks to the success of this year’s foul-mouthed and R-rated comedies like Horrible Bosses, Bad Teacher, Bridesmaids, Friends with Benefits, and that other one with Ashton Kutcher that came out first but was probably worse, studios seem to be digging pretty hard to find the next blockbuster comedy idea. So it makes perfect sense that they’d take a trip back to the Judd Apatow farm to harvest the latest ideas of Andrew Cohen and Brendan O’Brien.

Their latest project is a rated R comedy starring, not shockingly, Seth Rogen and, actually shockingly, Zac Efron. According to Cinema Blend, Rogen would play your average Joe, living his vanilla life in Anytown, USA, when all of a sudden – record scratch – a bunch of frat boys move in next door to him. Efron plays the lead pledge trainer, hell master, or elephant walker and hijinks ensue.

I can almost see the pitch now…

Universal Exec: “So do you guys have any big ideas that you’re working on?”
Andrew Cohen: *takes big bong rip* “Uh yeah, like, Seth Rogen plays this dude…”
Brendan O’Brien: *takes big bong rip* “And he’s, like, doing something funny…”
Universal Exec: “OK, yeah, this sounds great. Who else is in it?”
Cohen: *exhales* “I don’t know, like, Zac Efron or somebody.”
Universal Exec: “Here’s a blank check, you glorious c*cksuckers!”

That idea netted Cohen and O’Brien an unspecified 7-figure amount (each!), while Rogen will receive $8 million to star and another unspecified 7-figure amount to produce. Meanwhile, the writers for Adam Sandler’s next project were just paid in Fruit Roll-Ups and nap time.

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After the jump, you can watch the new trailer for Bridesmaids, aka The Hangover for Chicks, aka The Labia Hangover — the Judd Apatow-produced, Paul Feig directed, Kristen Wiig co-written wedding flick opening May 11th.  I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about this one, and the new trailer (previous versions here and here) give us a nice juicy taste of Kristen Wiig in a bra and Jon Hamm shirtless.  I don’t know which of those is sexier, and that’s not an insult to either party.  I’d consider both chests a fine place to deposit my seed. What?  Don’t look at me like that, you know you were thinking it too.

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Hey, remember The Hangover?  Well imagine The Hangover with a big ol’ vagina that bleeds once a month and you’ve got Bridesmaids. What? Don’t look at me like that. I happen to think it’s a beautiful thing, the sloughing of uterine lining.

This spring, producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad) and director Paul Feig (creator of Freaks and Geeks) invite you to experience Bridesmaids. Kristen Wiig leads the cast as Annie, a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony.[Apple]

I give it three stifled wank motions and the mouthfart of cautious optimism.  I’m not thrilled about the couldn’t-be-more-reductive, it’s-a-female-version-of-The Hangover! premise, but I’ve always liked Kristen Wiig.  She seems like a positive force towards gender equality, and besides, she’s totally do-able. (PS, where’d they find white Queen Latifah over here?)  But I think the bigger question is, what happens to the dapper lab puppies who show up at the 1:54 mark?

Hey, fellas, lookin’ sharp.  You savin’ that seat for someone? Don’t start yawning yet, we’ve got a big night ahead of us.

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