“I Love You, Man” has established its legacy. Not because it came out at a time when the nebulous idea of the pop culture bromance had started cropping up in newspaper trend pieces. Not because the film, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel as unlikely best buds, grossed over $70 million dollars at the box office. “I Love You, Man” has secured its spot in the cultural lexicon because the king of Hollywood comedies, Judd Apatow, has lovingly poked fun at it in one of his movies.
As writer/director John Hamburg tells MTV News, “There’s a line in ‘Funny People’ where a guy tells Adam Sandler’s character, ‘Oh, your career is hot—Paul Rudd wants to star in a bromance with you.’ I emailed Judd and said, ‘Do you have a director for that project?’” Read more...
Zac Efron + $24 million dollar opening = sure-fire sequel. Right? The tricky thing is that the movie in question is the old-guy-becomes-a-teenager comedy ‘17 Again,’ in which Efron plays a young version of Matthew Perry’s character. Where does a screenwriter go from there in a quest to move the story forward?
Efron’s co-star, Thomas Lennon (“Reno 911!”) has a couple ideas. “You turn it into 18-year-old Zac Efron, who’s maybe even a little bit hunkier and dreamer than 17-year-old Zac Efron,” he said in a recent interview with MTV News. “Although both of ‘em pretty much break the dreamy meter.”
“Oh my god, wouldn’t that be awesome!” he laughed. “I’m down for it! I have no problem doing ‘18 Again.’ Basically the same premise…. I ain’t picky.” Read more...
When you go see "17 Again" in theaters today, keep your ears peeled for some of the hottest bands today and some retro faves. That tip is courtesy of stars Zac Efron and Thomas Lennon, who run down the soundtrack in the video below. With an eclectic mix of artists like Santogold, Linkin Park and Young MC, there's probably something in there for everyone to enjoy.
Three years ago, Ben Stiller took a night watchman’s job at the Museum of Natural History; $250 million later, it was obvious that movie theater patrons were eager to see his exhibit once again.
Hence, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” which will come to life in theaters everywhere May 22nd. And once again, Stiller’s secret weapon will be “Reno 911!” stars/hotshot Hollywood writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon.
“The big mandate for ‘Night at the Museum 2’ came from Ben Stiller - he is one of the funniest guys you’ll ever meet - and he said the only rule for ‘Museum 2’ was that it had to be funnier than the first ‘Night at the Museum’,” explained Lennon. “And we said ‘Okay, that sounds great; we’ll go from there,’ and the cast started getting better and better, until it was just literally a who’s who of the funniest people in the world.”
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You might know Thomas Lennon as one of the founding members of the hilarious sketch-comedy troupe The State. You might know him as a scene-stealing co-star in movies like “Balls of Fury” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” or as the writer of “Herbie Fully Loaded” and the “Night at the Museum” movies. Oh, who are we kidding? You know him as the shorty-shorts clad Lieutenant Dangle from “Reno 911!”
Recently, we caught up with one of Hollywood’s most versatile funnymen – and Lennon told us that with the “Night at the Museum” sequel on the way, the chaotic writing schedule of himself and partner-in-crime Robert Ben Garant is only getting busier, and there are robots on the horizon. Read more...
