Five years after writer/director Judd Apatow introduced audiences to Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) in Knocked Up, their life is being revisited and explored much deeper in the honest yet hilarious look at marriage and parenthood, This is 40.  Pete is struggling to keep his record label afloat, Debbie is hoping her clothing boutique will turn a profit, and their two daughters – 13-year-old Sadie (Maude Apatow) and 8-year-old Charlotte (Iris Apatow) – are just trying to navigate parents, school and boys, all while finding their way in the world together.

At the film’s press day, director Judd Apatow spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about the biggest challenges in turning supporting character into lead characters, where he draws the line with humor, that his first cut of the film was just under three hours, how the test screening process led him to tweak things, screening his work for friends and family (including filmmakers like James Brooks and Cameron Crowe), deleted scenes for the DVD, using digital for the first time, his thoughts on 48fps and 3D, and whether there’s ever a chance that a Freaks and Geeks character could make a cameo in one of his films.  He also talked about how proud he is of Lena Dunham for the success of the HBO comedy series Girls (for which he is an executive producer), the logistics of getting everyone back together for the Anchorman sequel, and that they’re working to get financing together for the Pee-Wee Herman movie.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Jimmy Fallon has released upon the world a thing of true beauty – a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises with Pee-Wee Herman doing all of the voices (his take on Bane is particularly fantastic).  Except … it’s not actually Pee-Wee (Paul Reubens) doing the voices, but Fallon himself.  The only flaw in this awesomely weird offering is that it’s far too short.  I’m envisioning a kind of RiffTrax franchise where Pee-Wee (or I guess Fallon doing Pee-Wee impressions – who knew he was so good?) just dubs entire films, or at least trailers.  To check out the video, hit the jump:

The animated series TRON: Uprising, premiering on Disney XD on June 7^th, takes place after the 1982 feature film and before the events in TRON: Legacy. Produced in CG animation with a 2D aesthetic, the series follows the heroic journey of a new character named Beck (voiced by Elijah Wood), a young program who becomes the unlikely leader of a revolution inside the computer world of The Grid.  You can watch the first episode here.

At the press day for this highly anticipated new show, actor Paul Reubens, who voices Pavel, General Tesler’s (voiced by Lance Henriksen) untrustworthy base commander who will do whatever it takes to get ahead, talked about finding the voice for the character, playing a villain, and how he had a toy from the original TRON movie.  He also gave an update on the status of the next Pee-Wee Herman movie (produced by Judd Apatow), and his love of reality television, even alluding to the fact that he might be developing his own reality show.  Check out what he had to say after the jump:

At this weekend’s press day for the upcoming Disney XD animated series TRON: Uprising, debuting with a special preview on the Disney Channel on May 18^th, we got to participate in roundtable interviews with the cast, producers and director.  Set in the mythology of the TRON universe, the show takes place after the 1982 feature film and before the events in TRON: Legacy.  Produced in CG animation with a 2D aesthetic, the series follows the heroic journey of a new character named Beck (voiced by Elijah Wood), a young program who becomes the unlikely leader of a revolution inside the computer world of The Grid.

One of the actors who was there to talk about his role was Paul Reubens, who voices Pavel, General Tesler’s (voiced by Lance Henriksen) untrustworthy base commander, who will do whatever it takes to get ahead.  While we’ll post what he had to say about his involvement in the series closer to its June 7^th premiere on Disney XD, the conversation undoubtedly turned to the progress of the next Pee-Wee Herman film that he’s doing with Judd Apatow.  Reubens gave a quick update, including the fact that they just did a rewrite on it and will be meeting this coming week, with a plan to go into production, at any minute.  Check out what he had to say after the jump:

While most PSA’s nab intimidating or influential celebrities in order to better deter youngsters from dangerous activities, Pee-Wee Herman is not the first name that comes to mind when thinking of people who would keep kids off drugs.  However, that’s exactly what he’s doing in this vintage PSA about the dangers of crack.  It’s eerily reminiscent of Tim Meadows’ character in Walk Hard, and I half expected Herman to end with “You don’t want no part of this shit!”  The piece also takes place in a dark room with spotlights, so you know Pee-Wee’s super serious.  Hit the jump to learn a lesson and click here for more PSA Sundays.

Last weekend Collider hit the red carpet at the Scream Awards. The event was held in a massive outdoor theater on the Universal back lot, right around the corner from the Bates Motel and just in front of the giant blue screen they used for the end of The Truman Show. If you’ve taken the studio tour, you probably know the place.

While on the red carpet, we got a chance to talk to Game of Thrones star Sean Bean, Pee-Wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens and Saw and Insidious creators James Wan and Leigh Whannel. The artists told us about returning from the dead on Thrones, the relation of LSD to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, 3D remakes of Jaws, biopics of famous Demonologists and much more.  Hit the jump for the interviews.

Only at SXSW will you see Jake Gyllenhaal and Pee-wee Herman teamed up. While attending the ongoing festival in Austin, the two recently paired up to create short videos explaining each other’s projects. Herman explains what Gyllenhaal’s new film Source Code is about, while Gyllenhaal attempts to explain what The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway is about. Pee-wee’s Broadway show will be airing on HBO Satuday, March 19^th, while Source Code is set to hit theaters on April 1^st. Hit the jump to watch the clips.

Judd Apatow will spend a good portion of his near future with familiar characters.  He signed on to produce the new Pee-wee Herman movie, the culmination of Paul Reubens’ revival tour of the 1980s character.  More to my interest, Apatow is writing and directing a new feature based on the characters played by Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd in Knocked Up, scheduled for release June 1, 2012.

The Venice Family Clinic honored Apatow with a humanitarian award last night, where he discussed what makes these characters worth revisiting, and how to address the continuity issues that might arise in each property.  Read what he had to say after the jump.

Three decades after his first HBO special, Paul Reubens returns to the network on March 19^th, in an exclusive presentation of his current hit Broadway show, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, shot at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre New York this past January. Having opened last November, the 90-minute show is full of subversive humor and childlike wonder, based on both the original stage show and the Emmy-winning Saturday morning TV show, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, which became a cultural phenomenon. The character was also brought to life on the big screen in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-Wee.

During a recent interview to promote the HBO special, Paul Reubens talked about the longevity of Pee-Wee Herman, the possibility of bringing Pee-Wee back to the big screen (with Judd Apatow as producer), what he’s learned in the 30 years since his first show, and why he thinks there’s so much interest in the character again. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

There is a broad and devoted fanbase for Pee-Wee Herman who must have been delighted to hear the character would return to his stage roots for The Pee-Wee Herman Show.  But not every fan lives in New York and Los Angeles, the only two cities where the show played.  Luckily, The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway will reach the masses by way of an HBO special that premieres March 19.  Watch the teaser trailer, in which Paul Reubens rummages through a box of bow ties, after the break.

File this one in the rumor pile for now, but Tim Burton might be developing a sequel to his 1993 classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.  In a recent interview [via Dread Central], Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens said he would like to reteam with Burton in the future (the two teamed up for Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure), but that the director has a slew of potential projects already lined up.  Reubens then proceeded to rattle off a list of various films Burton was developing and one of them was reportedly a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Burton’s garnered a lot of clout ever since Alice in Wonderland broke a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.  However, his next project is an adaptation of the 1960s gothic soap opera series Dark Shadows starring (who else) Johnny Depp.  Filming on Dark Shadows is set to begin in April.  It’s possible that Burton could still be developing a Nightmare sequel on the side, and just like the original, will hire someone else to direct. [Update: Derek Frey, a producer and executive at Tim Burton Productions, tells The Playlist that there is no truth to the rumor.]

Yesterday, we reported the exciting news that Paul Reubens would be teaming up with Judd Apatow for a new Pee-Wee movie.  Today, Reubens (who created and plays the manic Pee-Wee Herman) spoke more about the project that he’s co-writing with actor Paul Rust (I Love You, Beth Cooper) and that Apatow is producing.  Speaking to The New York Times, Reubens said that he had scripts that would follow his wonderful children’s show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, the classic Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and the not-so-classic Big-Top Pee-Wee.  However, Apatow said “He was more interested in something closer, in the same vein and the same genre, as Big Adventure.”

Hit the jump for more on what Reubens had to say about his new project.  I also provide my thoughts on what I hope the new film will be.

Paul Reubens hoped that a stage revival would kickstart development on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Movie, and sure enough, he reached just the right audience.  Judd Apatow attended The Pee-Wee Herman Show, in which Reubens reprised his ultra-silly character from the eighties, in Los Angeles this winter.  It turns out that Reubens’ feature script, co-written with Paul Rust (Moral Orel), is housed at Apatow’s home studio, Universal.  A couple of meetings later, Apatow is now on board as producer.  Hit the jump for comments from the parties involved. [Update: Click here for Reubens providing more details about the project.]

In an interview today with MTV Movies Blog, Pee-Wee Herman (aka Paul Reubens) confirmed that he’s finished a script for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Movie and is hoping to get it made.  I’m sure that the millions of fans of Tim Burton’s Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure as well as the TV series of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse are hoping for the same thing.  To help get it made, Pee-Wee is about to debut a live multimedia stage production and if it goes well he’s hoping that moviegoers will want to go back to the Playhouse.

The PG-movie has Pee-Wee and his friends, including Jambi the Genie and Magic Screening, venturing out into the world when one of their own goes missing (if it’s his bike I’m going to say Pee-Wee should consider getting a car or at least a Vespa).  However, unlike Big Adventure, this isn’t Pee-Wee in the real world.

“It’s not really the real world, it’s Puppetland. On ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse,’ on the television series we never left the playhouse, we were always inside the playhouse.  The movie is all out of the playhouse,” he revealed. “There are two scenes in the playhouse, but the rest is out of the playhouse.”

So the script is done, the premise sounds solid, they want to get it made, so in the immortal words of Mr. Pee-Wee Herman, “Fork it over.”