Sequels are already in the works for two upcoming cop comedies.  Buzz is strong for Bridesmaids director Paul Feig’s buddy cop comedy The Heat, and Deadline reports that screenwriter Katie Dippold has been tapped to start working on the script for a follow-up months before the first film even opens.  The pic stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as a by-the-books FBI agent and a rough-around-the-edges local Boston cop, respectively, who team up to take down a drug lord.  The film’s red-band trailer promises plenty of laughs and great chemistry between Bullock and McCarthy, and the pic’s June 28th release date shows big confidence from 20th Century Fox.  Hit the jump for news of a sequel to Ride Along.

The official synopses for a couple of upcoming Universal Pictures films have been released.  Director Peter Cornwell’s (The Haunting in Connecticut) supernatural thriller Mercy is based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King and stars Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) and Joel Courtney (Super 8) as two young boys who, after moving with their mother to take care of their dying grandmother at a decrepit farmhouse, encounter a dark spirit.  Shirley Knight, Frances O’Connor, Mark Duplass, and Dylan McDermott also star in this Jason Blum-produced (Paranormal Activity) thriller.

Additionally, we’ve got an official synopsis for the action-comedy Ride Along.  Directed by Tim Story (Fantastic Four), the film stars Kevin Hart as a fast-talking aspiring police officer who must team up with his girlfriend’s brother, a hot-tempered cop (Ice Cube), to prove that he’s worthy of being her husband.  The film also stars John Leguizamo, Jay Pharoah, and Laurence Fishbourne and opens on January 17, 2014.  Hit the jump to read the full synopses.

The film adaptation of Steve Harvey’s best-selling book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man has new names attached to star alongside Kevin Hart. According to Deadline, Jerry Ferrara, Romany Malco, Gary Owen, and Gabrielle Union are all now signed to the comedy project which sees Hart as a “relationship expert” who dishes out advice on love whilst struggling with his own failing marriage. (Move over Agony Aunts, Uncles are stepping up.) Unlike the long winded book title, the film is named simply, Think Like A Man and, as we reported last month, will be helmed by Fantastic Four director Tim Story and produced by Will Packer (Takers). Friends with Benefits writers Keith Merryman & David A. Newman have penned the script. Hit the jump for the synopsis of the book.

Fantastic Four director Tim Story has been set to direct the ensemble comedy Think Like a Man. The film is based on the bestselling book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey. Kevin Hart (Little Fockers) will star as a “self-professed relationship expert” who proceeds to lecture his friends and family even though his own marriage is crumbling.

Deadline reports that production on the film is set to start this July. Story hasn’t directed a feature since 2009’s Hurricane Season, and previously helmed Barbershop and Taxi before moving on to the Fantastic Four franchise. Keith Merryman & David A. Newman (Friends With Benefits) wrote the script for Think Like a Man. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of Harvey’s book, then silently weep.