Seth Rogen in 'Observe & Report' (In Theatres Now)

[GOBBluth]

Rogen to 'Observe and Report' for WB
Jody Hill to write, direct comedy about mall cop
By TATIANA SIEGEL

Seth Rogen has signed on to star in the comedy "Observe and Report" for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.

Film, which will be directed by Jody Hill, begins shooting in April, marking Rogen's next project after he wraps Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" for the Weinstein Co.

"Observe and Report" centers on Ronnie Barnhardt, a deluded, self-important head of mall security who squares off in a turf war against the local cops. Hill penned the screenplay.

Donald De Line is producing; Andrew Haas and Marty Ewing exec produce.

Columbia Pictures also has a mall cop comedy in pre-production. That Kevin James starrer, scheduled to start shooting next month and tentatively titled "Mall Cop," is expected to be a more family-friendly laffer, while "Observe and Report" will likely be more ribald, akin to recent Rogen efforts such as "Knocked Up" and "Superbad."

"It will definitely go to the edge," De Line said. "We love (Hill's) sensibility."

Hill co-wrote, directed, produced and appeared in R-rated comedy "The Foot Fist Way," which Paramount Vantage will bow May 30 in New York and Los Angeles before expanding it June 6.

Rogen and frequent collaborator Judd Apatow saw Hill's "The Foot Fist Way," which unspooled at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and invited him to the set of "Knocked Up." Rogen and Hill struck up a friendship, and Hill played a small role in "Superbad."

Rogen next stars in Sony's "Pineapple Express," which he co-wrote, to be released Aug. 8.

Rogen is repped by UTA, manager Marsha McManus and attorney Fred Toczek.

[WillFerrellFan]

Observe and Report: The Legend of Ronnie Barnhardt



Sounds awesome though!

[drew-is-cool]

Just saw this on /film. Should be pretty great. Rogen, combined with Jody Hill and Danny McBride's friendship with Will Ferrel and Ben Stiller, could make for something pretty spectacular.

I'm sure I wont be the only one crossing my fingers in that regard.

[GOBBluth]

Ray Liotta among 'Observe' cast
Anna Faris, Michael Pena also set to join Seth Rogen in the comedy
By Borys Kit

April 24, 2008

Anna Faris, Michael Pena and Ray Liotta are starring opposite Seth Rogen in "Observe and Report."

Jody Hill, who wrote the script, is directing while Donald De Line is producing the Warner Bros./ Legendary Pictures comedy, which also sees Jesse Plemons ("Friday Night Lights") joining the cast as well.

"Report" centers around Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen), a deluded, self-important head of mall security who squares off in a turf war against local cops.

Faris plays a salesgirl at the mall whom Ronnie lusts after, while Pena is Ronnie's right-hand man at mall security.

Liotta, who recently signed with WMA, will acts as Ronnie's nemesis, a police detective. Plemons plays another guard under Ronnie's purview.

Andrew Haas and Marty Ewing are executive producing the film, which goes into production this week.

Faris stars in the comedy "House Bunny," which opens Aug. 22, for Sony and Happy Madison and has Universal/ Imagine's "Kids in America" with Topher Grace in the can. She is repped by Gersh, Raw Talent and attorney Robert Offer.

Pena, whose recent credits include "Crash" and "Lions for Lambs," next stars with Rachel McAdams in Neil Burger's Iraqi War-themed drama "The Lucky Ones." He is repped by Innovative, Management 360 and attorney Rick Genow.

Liotta, whose recent credits include "Battle in Seattle," is additionally repped by Untitled.

[GOBBluth]

The good news: Seth Rogen isn't playing Seth Rogen this time
The bad news: Audiences will probably not be able to handle this character

IS OBSERVE & REPORT A CLASSIC IN THE MAKING?
By Devin Faraci

Over the last few days I've heard two things about Observe & Report, the latest Seth Rogen film:

- it's really, really great;

- it's possibly in trouble.

And of course the trouble - in the form of test numbers that make the studio nervous - comes from exactly what makes the film great. We may be seeing yet another movie whose very specialness stumps the studio.

Observe & Report is Jody Hill's follow-up to the incredible Foot Fist Way (which I just watched again tonight at the New Beverly Cinema as part of Patton Oswalt's mini-festival), and everything I'm hearing is that it's a huge step up for a director who started out very strongly. Seth Rogen plays a petty, totalitarian mall cop who is forced to work with a police detective (Ray Liotta) to find a flasher running amok. While Rogen usually plays the likable, pot smoking schlub, here he's got a much darker character, described to me as a racist asshole (which really gibes with what I saw while visiting the set), a character that makes Foot Fist Way's Fred Simmons seem cuddly.

And that's the problem. Besides the fact that Hill specializes in edgy, not obvious comedy (the punchlines aren't pointed out or delivered in traditional ways, which has led some people to bizarrely claim that Foot Fist isn't funny. It just isn't a film with neon lights on its jokes), which is going to be hard for mall audiences to accept, Rogen is playing very against type. For serious film and comedy fans this is exciting, but the sweet guy from Knocked Up suddenly playing a douchebag is off-putting to the middle of the road types.

The film had a test screening in the Los Angeles area this weekend, and I spoke to a couple of people who saw the current cut. I haven't seen it myself (although I wish I had gone), but I trust the opinions of these folks. It helps that they had the same take: this is a great film, but one that left half the test audience cold. The films that were mentioned in comparison to Observe & Report were Bad Santa, Taxi Driver (!) and Anchorman (in terms of intensity of laughs). One of my sources, a very non-PC type, said that some of the jokes made even him uncomfortable, which he loved. And the film apparently pushes the envelope not just in the comedy but in some violence, which includes a parody of the classic Oldboy hallway/hamer fight scene. Both of the people to whom I spoke tried not to oversell what they had seen, but both felt that it was an incredible film, magnitudes better and even funnier than Foot Fist.

It's fitting that Bad Santa came up - that's another film whose darkness caused problems with the studio,. I always wonder why this happens with films whose script offers every dark nook and cranny up for inspection. Do the suits think that things will get softened up on set? So they hope that during the making of the movie that edgy, almost ugly joke gets lightened up?

Whatever the case, here's hoping that the Observe & Report that hits theaters is similar to the test cut, at least in terms of being Jody Hill's vision. I know that everybody had to sign draconian NDAs, but if you saw the test screening this weekend, drop me a line - I am not looking for reviews to run on the site, but I am interested in hearing what more people thought of the film.

[jonwest]

[Kevdo]

Yep. That looks exactly like the mall in Albuqueque where they filmed. Where did these come from?

[jonwest]

my bad for not posting the link, thought i did haha
http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=11273&count=0

[Becky]

lol. Is it weird to say that I have a dream to one day BE Rogen's girlfriend????
He's just so damn cute.

[JoshWatts]

Seth being the stoner he is, it doesn't surprise me in the least that he jumped at the chance to portray a police officer that's a corrupt asshole.

Also, have I mentioned yet that I love Anna Faris? Well I really, really do.

[jonwest]

http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=1270&item=0

red band trailer

[drew-is-cool]

Looks AMAZING!!

Like what Pineapple Express should have been like.

[WillFerrellFan]

Looks AWESOME!!

[GOBBluth]

I'm pretty floored by that trailer

This looks like it could be Seth's best work yet.

[Kevdo]

Hey, by the way, is there any movie that Danny McBride doesn't appear in?

This film looks awfully dark. If this is the "crazy funny" stuff for the trailer, I can't imagine how black the actual film will be. It also looks like it'll kick ass!