Columbia Pictures has released the first trailer for director Dennis Dugan’s comedy sequel Grown Ups 2.  I hate myself for saying this, but I actually got a few chuckles out of the trailer.  After you get past the deer piss, there are a couple of ridiculous cameos from Shaquille O’Neal and Andy Samberg that are nice throwbacks to the zany Adam Sandler movies of old.  There’s also a nice flip on the “hot girl car trouble” scene from the first film.  And believe it or not, this might be a role that Lautner was Taylor-made for (sorry).

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars also Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Nick Swardson and Patrick Schwarzenegger.  Grown Ups 2 opens on July 12th.

A new red band trailer for the spoof A Haunted House has been released online.  Co-writer and star Marlon Wayans looks to be trying to recapture some of that Scary Movie magic with this pic, as it basically combines elements from Paranormal Activity and The Devil Inside with the same type of parody comedy that the Wayans Brothers used to great success with the Scary Movie franchise.  The results here are fairly stale, as Scary Movie itself spawned numerous terrible copycat films that drove the parody genre into the ground.  There are one or two mildly funny moments in this sex joke-heavy red band trailer, but nothing to suggest that A Haunted House is a must-see comedy.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Directed by Michael Tiddes (Dance Flick), the film also stars Essence Atkins, David Koechner, Nick Swardson, and Cedric the Entertainer.  A Haunted House opens on January 11th.

Remember when Scary Movie came out, made a bunch of money, and invaded the zeitgeist?  Well Marlon Wayans hopes you do, as the first trailer for his new Paranormal Activity spoof A Haunted House has landed online.  It’s looks exactly like you’d expect it to, but there are one or two chuckles sprinkled in between the fart jokes and screaming.  The film tackles the “found footage” craze, most prominently spoofing Paranormal Activity and The Devil Inside.  I’m interested to see if these kinds of comedies even appeal to moviegoers anymore.  Will audiences show up or have the endless Scary Movie sequels killed the horror spoof genre that the Wayans brothers practically invented?

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Directed by Michael Tiddes (Dance Flick), the film also stars Essence Atkins, David Koechner, Nick Swardson, and Cedric the Entertainer.  A Haunted House opens on January 11th.

The raunchy and outrageous comedy That’s My Boy tells the story of Donny Berger (Adam Sandler), an aimless loser who knocked up his smoking hot teacher when he was a teenager, and was left to raise their love child even though he was completely unprepared to be a parent.  Now, 30 years later, Todd (Andy Samberg) is all grown up and a successful Wall Street executive who hasn’t seen his father in years.  But, with Donny owing tens of thousands to the IRS, he figures that tracking down his son will not only give him the chance to ask for the money he needs to stay out of jail, but to also finally bond with his son.

At the film’s press day, writer/director Sean Anders talked to Collider for this exclusive interview about what made Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg the perfect pairing for this film, what he’d like to see on the DVD, and the collaboration he had with Sandler both in reworking the script and on set during filming.  He also talked about signing on to write and direct Three Mississippi (with partner John Morris), about two Philadelphia neighbors whose annual Thanksgiving game of tackle football has become extraordinarily heated, the possibility of a Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler pairing for the film, and the status of the Dumb and Dumber sequel with Jim Carrey.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Adam Sandler has added fellow SNL co-star, Cheri Oteri (Liar Liar) and Happy Madison mainstay, Nick Swardson (Just Go With It) to the cast of Grown Ups 2.  Featuring the return of Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek and Maya Rudolph, Sandler’s first ever sequel will feature newcomers Taylor Lautner, Oliver Cooper and David Henrie as fraternity brothers who antagonize Sandler and Co. Dennis Dugan will also return to direct the sequel for Happy Madison and Sony.  Hit the jump for details on Oteri and Swardson’s characters.

Adam Sandler had a moment there where he seemed to have found what made him a great funnyman and showed that he had acting chops. And though he’d been great before, that moment was around 2008 and 2009 when he made You Don’t Mess With the Zohan and Funny People, but since then he seems to have regressed. After Funny People didn’t work, he’s now making the movies he made fun of in Funny People. Sandler churns out a movie or two a year with his crew of regulars (which includes director Dennis Dugan, Allen Covert, Nick Swarsdon, Jonathan Loughran, Peter Dante and a peppering of his old SNL chums), and in Jack and Jill all the familiar faces show up while Sandler plays twins – with one of the twins being a girl! Cross-dressing is an old comic trope, but Sandler and company do little with it. The film’s saving grace is Al Pacino playing himself. Our review of Jack and Jill on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share with you this evening. First up, Jay Baruchel is set to star in The Rebel Kind. Based on the memoir by John Armstrong, the film centers around 1980s Vancouver-based band The Modernettes and “chronicles the emergence of the city’s punk-rock scene via a successful band that throws in the towel, realizing the deep cost of pursuing superstardom.” The script by Reg Harkema (Monkey Warfare) also includes a love story between the band’s frontman Buck Cherry and bass player Mary Jo Kopechne. In addition to writing the script, Harkema will also direct. Variety’s report doesn’t specify, but it’s assumed that Baruchel will be playing Cherry (whose real name is John Armstrong). Production will begin next fall in Vancouver.

Baruchel has a number of projects on his plate. He’s set to film Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse with Seth Rogen in February, is attached to the comedy Murder of a Cat, and is poised to adapt Baseballissimo, Random Acts of Violence and Exorcism Diaries with writing partner Jesse Chabot. Hit the jump for casting news regarding the stop-motion pic Hell & Back.

In a summer packed with R-rated comedies, 30 Minutes or Less is the last one out the gate.  It’s not the most emotionally fulfilling (Bridesmaids), it’s not the one that delivers the most laughs (Horrible Bosses), and it’s certainly not the worst (The Hangover Part II).  What 30 Minutes or Less has working for it is that it’s short.  There’s hardly an ounce of fat on it and it races from scene to scene trying to get as many laughs in as possible.  The comic ensemble does a terrific job and while director Ruben Fleischer doesn’t show off the visual flair he demonstrated in Zombieland, he keeps the movie crass, fast, and funny.

As part of Sony’s massive Hall H panel today, we were treated to a presentation of Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer’s new film 30 Minutes or Less.  Moderator Ralph Garman began by bringing out Fleischer, Nick Swardson, Michael Pena, and Aziz Ansari. Fleischer explained that Jesse Eisenberg is currently shooting a Woody Allen movie and Danny McBride is busy with Eastbound and Down. However, McBride treated us to a pre-recorded message that began with the actor stating, “If you are viewing this, the apes have won.” In his gut-busting video he proceeded to call every one of the other actors on the panel assholes.  Hit the jump for my full recap.

With director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) 30 Minutes or Less opening August 12, Sony is using this week’s Comic-Con to help promote the very funny film.  Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria and Michael Pena, the film centers on a pizza delivery guy (Eisenberg) who is kidnapped by two men (McBride and Swardson) and forced to rob a bank at the risk of being blown up.

Anyway, Sony is holding a free screening this Friday night at 8pm and we’ve got tickets to give away to some of our readers.  Since I know no one wants to see a movie by themselves, every person getting tickets will get a +1.  In addition, Ansari, Swardson, Pena and Fleischer will intro the film and then participate in a Q&A following the screening!  Hit the jump for details on how to enter, and you can also watch video messages from Eisenberg and Ansari, as well as McBride and Swardson.

New posters have been release for Final Destination 5, Killer Elite, and 30 Minutes or Less.  What’s great about each of these posters?  Final Destination 5: You can’t go wrong with exploding skulls.  Killer Elite: Clive Owen ‘stache.  30 Minutes or Less: Absolutely nothing.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Final Destination 5 opens August 12th.  Killer Elite opens September 23rd.  30 Minutes or Less opens August 12th.

A new green band trailer for director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) comedy 30 Minutes or Less has been released. It’s more or less a clean version of the most recent red band trailer, but it’s still a lot of fun. Everything I’ve seen from this movie so far has been pretty much spot-on. Fleischer’s put together a great cast, and the pairing of Eisenberg and Ansari is fantastic.

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria and Michael Pena, the film centers on a pizza delivery guy (Eisenberg) who is kidnapped by two men (McBride and Swardson) and forced to rob a bank at the risk of being blown up. Hit the jump to watch the trailer. If you missed it, check out Steve’s set visit report/video blog, in addition to his on-set interviews with Eisenberg, Ansari and Vadsaria, Swardson and McBride, and Fleischer. 30 Minutes or Less hits theaters August 12th.

When you sit down to interview two comedians, you never really know how it’s going to turn out.  The reason is sometimes comedians play it straight and give you honest answers.  But other times you might ask a serious question, but you’ll get an answer that’s more like a stand up routine.  Thankfully, while on the set of 30 Minutes or Less last year in Michigan, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson gave us a great mixture of the two, and after the jump you can either read or listen to what they had to say.  They talked about doing improv, who they play in the film, how did their characters change after getting cast, and a lot more.

Jesse Eisenberg is sitting on the hood of his pizza delivery car in an abandoned junkyard.  He’s been tied up.  Standing nearby are Danny McBride and Nick Swardson.  They’re wearing normal clothing, except for the gorilla masks to hide their identities.  The two have captured Eisenberg’s character because they have a plan: instead of robbing a bank on their own, they’ve attached a bomb to Eisenberg and they’re making him do the job.  As you might imagine if you were faced with this reality, Eisenberg is freaking out.  However, it’s hard to take it seriously because McBride and Swardson are improvising during every take and each one is funnier than the last.  I’m starting to think 30 Minutes of Less is going to be awesome.

But let me back up a second.

It’s late August, 2010.  I’m in Michigan with some other online reporters on the set of director Ruben Fleischer’s follow-up to Zombieland.  While rumors had him possibly directing Mission Impossible 4, Fleischer settled on 30 Minutes or Less as his second film.  Even though many might have second guessed this decision, after talking with him on set and learning a lot about the movie, I think it was a smart choice.  I’ll explain why and recap the set visit after the jump.

A couple of new teaser posters for Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) heist comedy 30 Minutes or Less have been released and they’re absolutely fantastic. The red-band trailer for the film was released yesterday, and these posters echo the smart comedic draw that the trailer teased (ie. Wit in lieu of fatty-fall-down jokes). I really love how the posters hide the faces of the characters, but show just enough to get their personalities across.

The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as a hapless pizza delivery guy who is kidnapped by two wanna-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) and forced to rob a bank. Aziz Ansari and Michael Peña also star. 30 Minutes or Less opens on August 12^th. Hit the jump to check out the posters.