Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann Reprise Their KNOCKED UP Roles for Judd Apatow’s Next Film

Universal effectively announced this October that the next Judd Apatow film is scheduled for release on June 1, 2012, before any hint of plot or cast.  This cart-before-the-horse unveiling is usually reserved for sequels, rather than a (presumably) R-rated comedy.

It turns out this is no exception.  The untitled project is a sequel of sorts, at least in the Apatovian tradition.  Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd will reprise their roles as the bickering married couple from Knocked Up.  More after the jump:

Variety was unable to dig up any plot details, and it’s not clear whether Knocked Up leads Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl or any of the talented supporting cast — including Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Jonah Hill, and Jay Baruchel — will make an appearance.  Perhaps the best predictor is the Apatow-produced Get Him to the Greek, a spinoff of Russell Brand’s character from the Apatow-produced Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  I believe Sarah Marshall herself, Kristin Bell, made a cameo appearance on a TV segment.  Other than that, Greek was light on continuity.

No matter.  I’m a card-carrying member of the Paul Rudd Man Crush cult, and I’m a sucker for Mann’s sharp tongue.  Before now, I was not independently hoping to revisit the world of Knocked Up.  But I trust this will be its own entity.  (Read: No Heigl!)  I don’t believe this is the motivation behind the quasi-sequel, but much as I liked it, Funny People was perceived as a commercial disappointment with a $72 million worldwide gross.  If this is a rebound project, Apatow might as well return to the well of his biggest commercial hit (Knocked Up grossed $219 worldwide).

Both Rudd and Mann have an Apatow-produced project coming up before 2012.  Rudd stars opposite Jennifer Aniston in Wanderlust; Mann toplines Business Trip.  Independently, Rudd has My Idiot Brother and The Muppets also due in 2011.  Mann will next be seen in Little Birds, The Change-Up, and A Single Shot.  The untitled Apatow project will shoot this summer.

Last we checked, Apatow had written most of the script.  But here’s my retroactive pitch: In an attempt to reconnect with her husband, Mann attempts to join Rudd’s fantasy baseball league… with hilarious and poignant results!