Jason Sudeikis has gotten a bunch of comic mileage out of the “stranded in space” scenario on this season of LAST MAN ON EARTH, and now, his former SNL buddy Bill Hader and two comedy A-listers are going to try their luck with the same setup on the big screen.
Screenwriter Rodney Rothman got his start as a writer for Letterman before working on the screenplays for GRUDGE MATCH and 22 JUMP STREET, and he’ll be making his directorial debut with the excellently titled THE SOMETHING. Hader, Seth Rogen, and Zach Galifianakis will play three astronauts who are “sitting in a tin can far above the world” and encounter a…something after being stranded for years.
There’s not a whole lot of space comedies I can think of, and even less great ones. Sure there’s stuff like GALAXY QUEST and B-movies like SPACE TRUCKERS, MOM AND DAD SAVE THE WORLD, SPACE STATION 76, and ICE PIRATES, but I can’t think of any others with A-list pedigree that take place primarily off-planet (what is this “PLUTO NASH” you speak of?). These guys remain really funny, watchable talents (Rogen recently killed it as Buck Turgidson at the LACMA live-read of DR. STRANGELOVE, and Galifianakis’ BASKETS has started off quite nicely) and the reteaming of Rogen and Hader alone is cause enough for celebration. They have all also proven very adept at self-mockery and meta commentary, which could make for some great sci-fi-centric gags and banter.
This Rothman fellow is doing a studio sci-fi film as his directorial debut, so there’s a chance that it could come off as half-realized and amateurish, but I have no doubt that the comedy, at least, will be there in spades.
I’d like it if we didn’t hear anything else about this until its release, but I’m sure we’ll have more indicators as to who (or what) this crew will encounter as this comes together.
