Seth Gordon To Help Melissa McCarthy And Jason Bateman Commit ‘Identity Theft’
Two of comedy’s most marketable faces, teaming up for a little Internet humor, have now found a host. DirectorSeth Gordon(Horrible Bosses, The King of Kong) has signed on to direct a Universal comedy calledIdentity TheftstarringArrested Development’sJason BatemanandBridesmaidsbreakout actressMelissa McCarthy. Thecasting was announceda few months back but the title has now changed, along with the addition of a director.
In the film, written bySteve Conrad(The Pursuit of Happyness), Bateman will play a normal guy whose identity is stolen by McCarthy. Originally, McCarthy’s part was written for a man but after Bateman, who is also a producer, sawBridesmaids, he asked for a rewrite byCraig Mazin(The Hangover Part II). Read more after the jump.
Deadlinefirst broke the story of Gordon’s deal and, at first glance, it sounds good. Bateman has a great sense of what’s funny and what’s not (I still stand byThe Change-Up, dammit!) and McCarthy is the hottest actress in comedy. If she signed on, it’s likely a decent script.
Gordon, too, is evolving into a good comedy director.Four Christmaseswas pretty bad butHorrible Bosseswas a massive improvement and we all loveThe King of Kong. Conrad is a highly underrated screenwriter too so, yeah, everything sounds good. But then there’s the guy doing the rewrite: Craig Mazin.
The original script by Conrad was about a guy stealing the identity of another guy. Throwing a female into the mix certainly makes for more a comedic premise but Mazin seems to be primarily doing that re-write. Mazin is best known for writingScary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4, Superhero MovieandThe Hangover Part II. I don’t think there’s a laugh in that whole bunch. With any luck, he’s just making minor changes and not adding any huge, wacky, cross-dressing scenes or something. I shutter at the possibilities.
Do you agree that the screenwriter is the only question mark in this equation? Do you think Gordon’s addition is a plus?
