Judd Apatow’s This Is 40 will be one of the few comedies contending in this year’s Oscars. Universal will be pushing for it in all categories, and I think the Best Adapted Screenplay is a very real possibility.
With the film’s US release on the horizon just before Christmas, we’ve seen a handful of new featurettes surface in the past few days, and now Funny or Die have debuted a brilliant new red-band trailer.
“Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Funny People) brings audiences This Is 40, an original comedy that expands upon the story of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) from the blockbuster hit Knocked Up as we see firsthand how they are dealing with their current state of life.”
Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann take the lead this time around, reprising their roles from Knocked Up, and star alongside an excellent cast, headed up by Jason Segel, Maude and Iris Apatow, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, Chris O’Dowd, John Lithgow, Melissa McCarthy, and the brilliant Lena Dunham, all of whom add up to a must-see ensemble.
Apatow is once more directing from his own script, and serves as producer as well alongside past collaborators Barry Mandel (Serenity, Bridesmaids) and Clayton Townsend (Knocked Up, Bridesmaids).
This Is 40 will be released in the US on 21st December, just in time for both Christmas and the awards season. Here in the UK, it will be coming a little later on 14th February next year, in time for the Valentine’s weekend. Whenever it arrives in a theatre near you, it looks like it’s going to be essential viewing. Here’s the new red-band trailer to prove it. And as you can imagine, it’s rating is well-earned, making for some unsuitable work viewing. Enjoy.
