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.

Director Paul Feig, writer Katie Dippold and producer Peter Chernin must have found strong chemistry when working together on the upcoming action comedy The Heat because they’ll be reteaming for an untitled picture in the same genre. According to THR, Chernin Entertainment paid $1 million for Dippold’s pitch, but details on the project are being kept under wraps.

While Feig is attached to direct and produce, the untitled picture joins a couple of other projects he might direct. The Bridesmaids helmer is also on board for the comedy The Better Woman and possibly Dumb Jock. The Heat is one of my most-anticipated films of the summer, and if it’s as funny as I think it will be, then hopefully the next collaboration between Feig, Dippold, and Chernin will hit the fast track.

A new international trailer for director Paul Feig’s (Bridesmaids) new comedy The Heat has landed online.  The film stars Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) as an FBI agent who teams up with a local Boston cop (Melissa McCarthy) in order to bring down a drug lord.  There’s not a ton of new footage, but this trailer is worth the watch if only to hear the movie voice over guy say the word “tight ass.”  Bullock and McCarthy look to have absolutely excellent chemistry, and Feig’s involvement promises the comedy will likely be supported by a sufficient dose of heart.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Katilin Olson, Demian Bichir, Tony Hale, Taran Killam and Michael Rapaport.  The Heat opens on April 5, 2013.

A new red-band trailer for Paul Feig’s buddy cop comedy The Heat has gone online. The film stars Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) as an FBI agent who teams up with a local Boston cop (Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy) in order to bring down a drug lord. While the trailer does seem to show off perhaps a bit too much in the way of plot, it’s the humor that matters here. The red-band trailer is easily the funniest bit of marketing from The Heat so far. Also starring Katilin Olson, Demian Bichir, Tony Hale, Taran Killam and Michael Rapaport, The Heat opens on April 5, 2013. Hit the jump to watch the red-band trailer.

The longevity of Paul Feig and Judd Apatow’s short-lived 1999 series Freaks and Geeks is both astounding and ironic.  The show was ahead of its time and faced considerable opposition from its home network, NBC, throughout its one-season run.  Over the years, though, Freaks and Geeks has amassed a legion of fans and acted as the launching pad for countless careers.  The main cast of James Franco, Jason Segel, and Seth Rogen now reads like an all-star comedy lineup, not to mention the ridiculous number of stars that had bit parts in the series like Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Shia LaBeouf, Ben Foster, Lizzy Caplan, and David Krumholtz.

Most of the show’s cast came together for a reunion at PaleyFest last year, but for the upcoming comedy issue of Vanity Fair (guest edited by Apatow), the entire cast and crew was assembled for “An Oral History of Freaks and Geeks.”  In addition to the fascinating article itself, VF has released a number of cast reunion images.  Hit the jump to take a look.

The first trailer for Bridesmaids director Paul Feig’s comedy The Heat has been released.  The film stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as an uptight FBI agent and a foul-mouthed Boston police officer, respectively, who must team up to take down a drug lord.  The “mismatched partners” buddy cop premise may seem a tad stale, but this trailer proves that the comedic talents of Bullock and McCarthy (not to mention Feige) are enough to turn the basic logline into a really fun ride.  The two appear to have some excellent chemistry, and it’s especially neat to see one Thomas F. Wilson (ie. Biff Tannen from Back to the Future) back on the big screen.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Demian Bichir, Tony Hale, Taran Killam, and Michael Rapaport.  The Heat opens on April 5, 2013.

We’ve got a few casting stories to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Angelina Jolie will cameo in director Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty.
• Aasif Mandvi joins Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in The Internship.
• Comedians Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo have landed roles in Bridesmaids director Paul Feig’s untitled comedy alongside Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

Hit the jump for more details.

We’ve got just a few more release date shuffles to share on this unofficial “Release Date Thursday.”  Following release date news for the X-Men: First Class sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Robopocalypse, as well as Independence Day 3D, here’s a brief rundown of a few more dates:

• Disney’s Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp has been moved from May 31st to July 3rd, 2013.
• Marvel’s Thor 2 is shifting slightly from November 15th to November 8th.
• The sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters has been pushed back to August 16th from March 15th, 2013.
• The Ben Stiller-directed remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will land on Christmas Day, 2013.
• The currently untitled comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig has been set for April 5th, 2013.

Hit the jump for more on each of the aforementioned films.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy have signed on to star in a buddy cop movie that Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) will direct.  The script by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation) centers on “the strained working relationship between a high-strung FBI agent (Bullock) and an unconventional Boston cop (McCarthy) who team up to take down a Russian gangster.”  The logline is nothing special, but the talent attached is.  According to Variety, the Fox production is expected to shoot during McCarthy’s next hiatus from her sitcom, Mike & Molly.  Hit the jump for the rundown on the rest of their upcoming projects.

Director Paul Feig has rightly been inundated with a number of offers following the smashing success of last summer’s Bridesmaids, and it appears he may be soon be taking on a drama. Variety reports that Feig is in early negotiations to helm Untouchable, The Weinstein Company’s English-language remake of the French film The Intouchables. If landing a prestige picture wasn’t enough, Oscar-winner Colin Firth is also in early talks to take on the lead role in the film. Based on a true story, Untouchable follows “a wealthy white aristocrat who suffers a tragic paragliding accident that leaves him a quadriplegic.” After cycling through a number of caretakers, the man bonds with a young, troubled immigrant caregiver.

Hit the jump for more, including how this project fits in with Feig’s other upcoming films.

Director Paul Feig delivered a massive hit with Bridesmaids and we’ve been excited to discover what he would do as his follow-up.  We’ve now learned that Feig will go with another female-lead comedy and helm The Better Woman for Universal.   Per Variety, the “story follows a high-powered young executive who is dumped by her boyfriend for an older woman. She befriends the woman to discover why her boyfriend chose her, and rediscovers herself in the process.”  It sounds like a premise that could go either way (I can already see Jane Fonda circling this like a vulture), but Feig has earned trust not only from Bridesmaids, but from his work on Freaks and Geeks.  Reese Witherspoon had been circling The Better Woman, but she passed on the project and I have no complaints about that.  Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls) is writing the script, based on an idea by Ron Bass and Jen Smolka.

Hit the jump for more.

Kristen Wiig co-wrote her own breakthrough role in last year’s Bridesmaids.  The film is Universal’s highest-grossing romantic comedy ever and naturally the studio would love to have a sequel.  However, Wiig tells THR, “We aren’t working on that.  Annie [Mumolo] and I aren’t planning a sequel. We are writing something else.”  There’s some speculation that Wiig and her co-stars were unhappy with the $100,000 bonus they received for the movie even though it ended up grossing $288 million worldwide.  Universal reportedly offered Wiig and eight-figure payday to return, but she declined the offer and now the studio is looking to hang the sequel on Bridesmaids‘ other breakout star, Melissa McCarthy.

Hit the jump for more.

Coming into 2011, Bridesmaids looked like it might be another in a string of recent Judd Apatow-related misfires. But appearances are deceiving as the film quickly found an audience and was one of the biggest hits of the summer. Boo-yah for director Paul Feig, and co-writer and star Kristen Wiig. They nailed it. The film is a charming and real look at a woman in her thirties whose best friend (Maya Rudolph) is about to get married, and how friendship can be strained – but is often resilient – during such stressful but happy times. Our review of the Blu-ray of Bridesmaids follows after the jump.

Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids was one of the biggest (and best) comedies of this year. If the film itself was a bit of surprise hit, the biggest surprise came from scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy. One of the highlights of the flick, she killed nearly every line she had and soon after the film’s success she found herself fielding a lot of phone calls. The Emmy-winner for Best Actress in a Comedy is currently working on a number of projects, and recently sat down to dole out some details.

In addition to the comedy that’s she’s scripting for Paramount with Bridesmaids co-writer Annie Mumolo (that film centers on a woman who hijacks the Stanley Cup to cheer up her sick husband), McCarthy is working on a dark comedy with The Help director Tate Taylor, a roadtrip comedy called Tammy, and Paul Feig’s new film Dumb Jock. Hit the jump for more details.

I’m not sure if we need a third Bridget Jones Diary movie, but if it’s going to happen, I wouldn’t argue against having Bridesmaids director Paul Feig at the helm.  Daily Mail reports that Feig is in “early stages of discussions” to direct Bridget  Jones Diary 3 because he’s “beyond keen” to make a movie in London.  However, the state of the sequel is still fragile because no deals with leads Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant have been made.  Further difficulties arise due to scheduling and whether the script is strong enough to lure the actors back.

Author and screenwriter Helen Fielding has centered the third film around Bridget trying to get pregnant but once again torn between the charming-but-unreliable Daniel (Hugh Grant) and the stoic-but-loving Mark (Firth) even though she seems to end up with Mark every time.  Are we really doing this love triangle again?  Despite the tired story, the sequel could remain stuck in development hell since Feig and Firth have plenty of options since the success of Bridesmaids and The King’s Speech, respectively.