Opening this weekend, in limited release, is writer/directors Jay and Mark Duplass (Cyrus) Jeff Who Lives at Home.  Starring Jason Segel (The Muppets) and Ed Helms (The Hangover) as two brothers, with Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise) as their mother, Jeff Who Lives at Home follows Jeff (Segel) as he searches for meaning in his life and inadvertently helps his brother, Pat (Helms) discover a truth of his own.  For more on the very funny film, here’s three clips, twenty images, the trailer, and my Toronto Film Festival interview with the Duplass Brothers.

During my recent interview with Segel, we talked about how he got involved in the film, what it’s like to do a dramatic movie where most of the scenes are improvised, the shooting process of the Duplass brothers, what it was like to shoot in chronological order, the inclusion of M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs in the movie, whether more people recognize him from SLC Punk, Alias, or Can’t Hardly Wait, what TV shows he’s currently watching, his involvement (or lack thereof) with The Muppets sequel, The Five-Year Engagement, the inevitable end of How I Met Your Mother, and what he plans to do for his upcoming hiatus.  Hit the jump to watch.

With The Muppets now playing, all week I’ve been posting exclusive video interviews with the cast.  The past few days I posted my conversations with Amy Adams, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, Jason Segel and Walter, director James Bobin, and today I’ve got co-screenwriter Nicholas Stoller (as well as director of Get Him to the Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall).  But before getting to the interview, as I’ve said all week, I absolutely loved The Muppets.  It’s one of my favorite films of the year and it not only made me laugh, it also made me cry.  If you were nervous about the movie…don’t be.  It’s a huge home run.

During my extended video interview with Stoller, we talked about the status of how the script changed along the way, ’80s Robot, Infant Sorrow, the notes they got from Disney, his favorite jokes, and a lot more.  In addition, with Stoller currently in post production on his next film, The Five-Year Engagement (which also stars Jason Segel), we talked about his first test screening, the music (it’ll be a lot of Van Morrison), editing a movie with so much improv, and how the movie might be longer than people expect.  Finally, with Stoller also attached to Sex Tape, I asked the status of that project.  Hit the jump for more.

At this year’s Toronto Film Festival, I was able to talk with Chris Pratt about director Bennett Miller’s Moneyball.  Based on Michael Lewis’ book, the film stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the general manager of Oakland Athletics who helped usher in a statistical revolution to professional baseball.  Jonah Hill plays a fictional character based on Paul DePodesta, and Pratt plays Scott Hatteberg.  Moneyball also stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Stephen Bishop and Kathryn Morris.

During the interview, Pratt talked about how he got cast in the film, what advice he got from Hatteberg, the screenplay by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, and what the last year has been like.  He also talks about his characters in both Ten Year and Five-Year Engagement with Jason Segel.  Hit the jump to watch.

The first official synopses for two Universal flicks have been released: the live-action/CG-animated Ted and the comedy The Five-Year Engagement. Marking the feature directorial debut of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Ted stars Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel McHale, Patrick Warburton and Jessica Stroup. The story centers on a grown man (Wahlberg) whose wish that his childhood teddy bear would come to life comes true. MacFarlane voices the very R-rated teddy bear. The film hits theaters July 13th, 2012

Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), The Five-Year Engagement stars Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt, Rhys Ifans, Mindy Kaling, Lauren Weedman, David Paymer, Kevin Hart, Jacki Weaver and Dakota Johnson. Co-written by Segel and Stoller, the film follows a young couple’s (Segel and Blunt) extended engagement and the bumps and bruises that they undergo along the way. Judd Apatow is producing. Hit the jump to check out the official synopses for Ted and The Five-Year Engagement.

Dakota Johnson, the young actress who impressed with her handle on the Aaron Sorkin banter while prancing around in Stanford cardinal underwear in The Social Network, has booked her next three projects.  Variety reports Johnson is currently shooting the indie comedy Goats with David Duchovny and Vera Farmiga.  This summer, she’ll film a role on the 21 Jump Street remake led by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.  Lastly, she’ll join Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie, and Chris Pratt for the romantic comedy Five Year Engagement.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

The Office star/writer Mindy Kaling is the latest actor to join the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Five Year Engagement. The cast now includes Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt, Rhys Ifans, Lauren Weedman, David Paymer, Kevin Hart and Jacki Weaver. Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Get Him to the Greek), the film follows a young couple’s (Segel and Blunt) extended engagement and the bumps and bruises that they undergo along the way.

Variety reports that Kaling will play one of Ifans’ grad students. Stoller previously directed Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and the two co-wrote this project together.

We have some assorted casting news for you this afternoon.  First up, Lindsay Lohan has dropped out of the role of Victoria Gotti in Gotti: Three Generations.  According to TMZ “money was an issue, but the various demands of her management team just got out of control.”  Apparently no one told Lohan’s management team that their client’s work was going straight-to-DVD and that a supporting role alongside John Travolta and Joe Pesci might be a worthwhile career boost.  The news of Lohan’s departure comes on the heels of director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) leaving the project earlier this week.

Hit the jump for casting news regarding Nicholas Stoller’s Five Year Engagement and an adaptation of the off-Broadway production Between Us.

[Update: THR now reports that Lohan will be appearing in Gotti, but not as Victoria. She'll now take on the role of John Gotti Jr.'s wife.]

Actress Lauren Weedman (The Daily Show, Hung) has joined the cast of director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller’s Five Year Engagement. The impressive cast of the Judd Apatow-produced comedy now includes Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt and Rhys Ifans. The film follows a young couple’s (Segel and Blunt) extended engagement and the bumps and bruises that they undergo along the way.

THR reports that Weedman will portray a “hard-nosed head chef” at the restaurant where Segel’s character works. When we last reported, the film was expected to start production towards the end of April. No word on whether that’s still the case. This marks a reunion of sorts for Stoller and Segel, as the director previously helmed the Segel-penned Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Stoller’s most recent outing was Get Him to the Greek.

Rhys Ifans and Chris Pratt have joined director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller’s (Get Him to the Greek) Five Year Engagement. Pratt’s inclusion is confirmed while Ifans is still “in talks,” however, both are expected to partake in a cast that already includes co-writer Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, and Alison Brie. While you may have already gathered as much based upon its title alone, Five Year Engagement follows a young couple’s (Segel and Blunt) extended engagement and the bumps and bruises that they undergo along the way.

Although details regarding Ifans and Pratt’s roles are not divulged in the report, Variety does confirm that the project is scheduled to begin production “towards the end of next month.” Both Ifans and Pratt have been busy as of late, with the former currently shooting the role of Dr. Curt Connors in The Amazing Spider-Man and the latter appearing in this weekend’s Take Me Home Tonight as well as recently wrapping on Moneyball alongside Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Community star Alison Brie has joined Emily Blunt and Jason Segel in the upcoming relationship comedy Five-Year Engagement.  The movie charts the very long engagement of a couple played by Blunt and Segel.  Segel co-wrote the script with director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).  Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson will produce.

According to Variety, Brie will play the sister of Blunt’s character and will put on an English accent for the role.  While Community may not have the killer ratings of other network shows, I have no doubt that it’s a launching pad for its cast members, particularly Brie and co-star Donald Glover.  Fans of Community know that Brie kills at comedy, but her work on Mad Men shows that she’s equally adept at more dramatic fare.  She’ll next be seen in theaters in Wes Craven’s Scream 4.

As you may recall, Emily Blunt was offered the Jackie Q role in Nicholas Stoller’s Get Him to the Greek.  Blunt was unable to take the part because Fox exercised an option in her Devil Wears Prada contract and forced her to costar in the upcoming and dreadful-looking Gulliver’s Travels.  But Vulture reports that Stoller hasn’t given up on working with Blunt and that she’ll “soon be offered” a starring role opposite Jason Segel in Stoller’s Five-Year Engagement.  Segel (who also co-wrote the film) told Steve earlier this year that the plot is about a couple who gets engaged very enthusiastically and then follows them over their five-year engagement with “break-ups, cross-country moves, and meeting new people,” and the movie is “basically about the fluidity of relationships in your twenties.”

While “offer” news is the sign of a slow news day (anyone can make an offer), it’s cool to see that Stoller hasn’t forgotten about Blunt’s comic skills and I think she could do a great job playing off of Segel.

I’ve been a fan of Jason Segel’s work for a long time.  While some of you still haven’t seen Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, if you haven’t, you’re missing out on great television and some fantastic work by Segel.  But even though both of those shows died well before their time, Segel’s landed on his feet, as he’s one of the stars of the very popular CBS show How I Met Your Mother, and he’s even been the leading man in a big Hollywood movie – Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Anyway, with the 3D CGI movie Despicable Me opening tomorrow, I was able to talk with Segel as a reporter for our partners at Omelete.  During the almost 6 minute interview, we talked about Brazil, the World Cup, what got him involved in Despicable Me, his next film Jeff Who Lives at Home (directed by The Duplass Brothers), and he gave me updates on The Muppet Movie and Nicholas Stoller’s Five-Year Engagement - which he said is about the fluidity of relationships in your 20′s.  He also said he hopes to shoot this next spring as his hiatus movie.  It’s a great interview, so hit the jump to check it out:

With Get Him to the Greek getting ready to come out in a few weeks, I got to talk to writer-director Nicholas Stoller on the phone yesterday.  While I’ll have the entire interview online soon, I was able to get updates on all the various projects he’s working on like the upcoming Muppet Movie (tentatively titled The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made), Gulliver’s Travels, Stretch Armstrong, Five-Year Engagement and Einstein Theory.  Here’s some of the highlights:

The Muppet Movie

• They had a table read a few days ago and they start filming this September
• They wrote in a ton of cameos and he said it breaks the fourth wall every five minutes
• Compared the tone to the original Muppet movies
• Filming in Los Angeles.  Thinks it’s a 6 or 8 week shoot
• To accommodate Jason Segal and his work on How I Met Your Mother, he’ll shoot HIMYM 3 or 4 days a week and the other days will be on the Muppet movie.  They will film on weekends.
• Calls The Muppets a “comedy gateway-drug”

Stretch Armstrong

• Confirmed he’s writing it for director Rob Letterman
• Says it has a light tone like Iron Man
• They’re creating their own universe for the character and other Hasbro characters aren’t making any appearances
• Confirms it’s an origin story

Gulliver’s Travels

• He saw a rough cut without effects and said it’s awesome
• Said it’s “a great mix of comedy and action-adventure-fantasy that I think people are going to be really into.”

Five-Year Engagement

• Is thinking about directing this next

Hit the jump for a lot more.  Look for the entire interview with audio soon: