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Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Fox has landed Therapy Dog, an animated comedy with a script plus presentation commitment. It hails from writer-producer-actress Sharon Horgan, actress Clea DuVall, writer-producers Jennifer Crittenden & Gabrielle Allan and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.

Written by DuVall, Crittenden and Allan, Therapy Dog is about a dog named Honey who runs group therapy sessions to help neighborhood animals manage the neuroses brought on by their owners and each other.

DuVall, Crittenden and Allan executive produce alongside Horgan and Clelia Mountford via their Merman production company and Kaplan and Dana Honor via Kapital, which serves as the studio. It is unclear yet whether DuvVall or Horgan would provide any voices for the project.

The idea for the show originated from DuVall who has been recurring on Veep since Season 5. In a conversation on the set of the HBO comedy,...

Sharon Horgan is teaming with Peaky Blinders producer Caryn Mandabach Productions on a morally complex drama for Amazon.

Horgan’s Merman, Mandabach’s indie and Kapital Entertainment are developing Dirty, written by Danny Brocklehurst, creator of Netflix’s Safe.

The drama is a brutally honest look at modern lives; the story of a principled woman who takes her first steps into a world of moral complexity. She discovers that everyone has their secrets, and that everyone, to some extent, is dirty.

Mandabach, Jamie Glazebrook, Horgan, Merman co-founder Clelia Mountford, Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor of Kapital Entertainment and Brocklehurst will exec produce.

Dirty is the latest project for Amazon since Catastrophe co-creator Horgan inked an overall deal with the Svod service; she is currently working with Meet The Parents’ John Hamburg and Ian Helfer on a comedy about a socially awkward broke single woman that will star herself and Game Night’s Billy Magnussen.

Amazon has given a script-to-series commitment for a comedy series starring Sharon Horgan and Billy Magnussen.

The series will follow Horgan as a socially awkward and broke single woman who decides to start a self-help company. She recruits a former male gymnast, played by Magnussen, to be the face of her new brand.

Horgan (“Catastrophe”) co-writes the series with John Hamburg and Ian Helfer, with Hamburg directing. The series is produced by Amazon Studios, Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, Clelia Mountford’s UK-based Merman and Horgan, who will executive produce with Mountford, Hamburg, Kaplan and Dana Honor for Kapital Entertainment.

Also Read: Emmy Quickie: 'Catastrophe' Star Sharon Horgan on Body Odor and the 'A-hole Pass' (Exclusive Video)

Horgan signed a first-look deal with Amazon in January of this year. She earned an Emmy nomination with co-writer Rob Delaney for the comedy series “Catastrophe” in 2016. She is repped by Wme,...

Exclusive: Catastrophe co-creator and star Sharon Horgan is eying another potential starring vehicle at Amazon. The streaming network has given a script-to-series commitment to a comedy series to star Horgan and Billy Magnussoen (Game Night). It hails from Horgan, John Hamburg (Meet the Parents) and his frequent collaborator Ian Helfer. Amazon Studios produces with Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and Horgan and and Clelia Mountford’s UK-based Merman.

Co-written by Horgan, Hamburg and Helfer and to be directed by Hamburg, the untitled comedy centers on a socially awkward, broke, single woman (Horgan) who launches a self-help company and recruits a handsome former male gymnast (Magnussen) to be the face of it.

Horgan and Mountford executive produce alongside Kaplan and Dana Honor of Kapital Entertainment, Hamburg and Helfer.

The project stems from the overall deal Horgan and Merman inked with Amazon Studios earlier this year. The pact called for Horgan’s longtime TV collaborator,...

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Out on Blu-ray and DVD today, Bryan Cranston stars in the hilarious comedy Why Him?, in which he plays a very overprotective father.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Bryan Cranston and James Franco fight the ultimate battle of wits and wills in this outrageous, no-holds-barred comedy from filmmaker John Hamburg (I Love You, Man, Zoolander). Ned (Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad, and his family visit his daughter at college, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (Franco). A rivalry develops, and Ned’s panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.

The film also stars Megan Mullally, Keegan-Michael Key, Zoey Deutch and Cedric the Entertainer.

There are plenty of extra features on the Blu-ray and DVD.

Stars: Bryan Cranston, Zoey Deutch, James Franco, Megan Mullally, Tangie Ambrose, Cedric the Entertainer, Griffin Gluck, Keegan-Michael Key, Jacob Kemp | Written by John Hamburg, Ian Helfer | Directed by John Hamburg

In a change to their usual Christmas tradition, Ned (Bryan Cranston), the boss of a struggling printing company and overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). As per comedy tropes, a rivalry develops between Ned and Laird when the former finds himself lost in the high-tech world of the latter and learns that Laird is about to pop the question…

Writer/director John Hamburg has an interesting career to say the least. The writer behind Meet the Parents and I Love You, Man (a film I revist at least once a month); Hamburg can writetruly hilarious – and touching – comedies,...

It’s not often that Bryan Cranston and Megan Mullally are the comedic saviors of a movie, but that’s 2016 for you. Their years of practice improving sitcoms (Malcolm in the Middle and Will & Grace) enable them to rescue Why Him? from abject mediocrity, as the parents of a young woman who has taken up with James Franco (this is not a horror film).

Cranston and Mullally play Ned and Barb Fleming, wholesome Middle Americans whose 22-year-old Stanford-attending daughter, Stephanie (Zoey Deutch), announces she’s dating 33-year-old dopey-grinned tech millionaire Laird Mayhew (Franco, in his wheelhouse). The Flemings, including 15-year-old Scotty (Griffin Gluck), spend Christmas week at Laird’s tacky Palo Alto mansion, getting to know the man who wants to become part of the family, as well as Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key), his enigmatic manservant.

Laird is said to have “no filter,” a screenwriting hack that allows a character to...

The big day, Christmas, is less than 50 hours away. Too late to ship that gift, but it’s not too late for the studios to unleash another big, boisterous family comedy. Hmm, about the family part…well…this flick’s rated “R” for an onslaught of “f-bombs” and naughty references. So, that distinguishes it from last month’s much tamer, comparatively genteel Almost Christmas. But the holiday is not enough for this new release, it wants to make things even more awkward by combining the season with the first meeting of a young woman’s boyfriend with her family. Of course that family, especially Daddy, is pretty buttoned-down and reserved. Alright, uptight would be the more appropriate description. Uh, this sounds more than a bit like the box office smash from 2000 (really? that far back?) Meet The Parents. It just so happens that this new film is directed by one...

For many years, John Hamburg was known as the guy who wrote Meet the Parents and its sequels, but in 2009, he directed a comedy that would become a popular favorite, I Love You, Man, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. It also helped solidify the terms “bromance” and “man-cave” in the public vernacular.

Hamburg returns this week with Why Him? a comedy that pits Bryan Cranston against James Franco in the high concept of a father having to adjust to his daughter’s new boyfriend. In the case of Franco, he’s playing an eccentric billionaire named Laird Mayhew, while Cranston plays the straight-ahead Ned Fleming, Midwest father of Zoey Deutch’s Stephanie, who has been seeing Laird without her family knowing. To make up for it, Laird invites Ned, his wife (Megan Mullally) and Stephanie’s younger brother Scotty (Griffin Gluck) out to his Silicon Valley mansion over the holidays to impress them.

I believe it was the great Anton Chekhov who said that “If you show in the first act a glass cube encasing a dead moose that’s been entombed in its own urine, in the third act it simply must explode all over James Franco, with the stuffed creature’s testicles landing in the mouth of a hapless supporting character.” An insightful and unusually prescient guy, that Chekhov, even if he never wrote anything quite as pungent as John Hamburg’s “Why Him?”

A dumb, gross, and sometimes hilarious holiday movie that exists at the nexus between the cringe comedies of Ben Stiller and the bromantic opuses of Judd Apatow, “Why Him?” painlessly marries the formulaic body horror of “Meet the Parents” to the improv-driven, reference-heavy sweetness of “Knocked Up.” It’s not as memorable as the former nor as smart (or sincere) as the latter, but — and this is...

20th Century Fox has debuted the second red-band trailer for Why Him? starring James Franco, Bryan Cranston. Film is directed by John Hamburg from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ian Helfer.

Check out the new trailer below.

The film is set over the holidays where Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, and he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). The straight-laced Ned thinks Laird, who has absolutely no filter, is a wildly inappropriate match for his daughter. The one-sided rivalry-and Ned's panic level-escalate when he finds himself increasingly out of step in the glamorous high-tech hub, and learns that Laird is about to pop the question. 

Why Him? will hit theaters December 23, 2016.

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James Franco goes breaking dad on Bryan Cranston in the first trailer for Why Him?.

Check out the Red Band & Green Band trailers and new poster for Why Him?.

Red Band trailer – Nsfw!

Green Band trailer

Directed by John Hamburg and produced by Shawn Levy, Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, Dan Levine, the screenplay is by John Hamburg & Ian Helfer with the story by Jonah Hill and John Hamburg & Ian Helfer.

Over the holidays, Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). The straight-laced Ned thinks Laird, who has absolutely no filter, is a wildly inappropriate match for his daughter. The one-sided rivalry-and Ned’s panic level-escalate when he finds himself increasingly out of step in the glamorous high-tech hub, and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.

Meeting your daughter’s boyfriend can always be stressful, it can be even more stressful when he’s a tattooed, filterless, foul guy — who also happened to be an “Internet zillionaire.”

In the red-band trailer for “Why Him?,” Bryan Cranston stars as Ned, an overprotective but loving father who meets his daughter’s (Zoey Deutch) boyfriend for the first time and asks himself that very question, why him?

Read More: James Franco Stars In Nsfw School Shooting Short Film ‘Obituaries’ — Watch It For Free Now

While the family visits Steph at Stanford they finally meet her socially awkward, wildly inappropriate, billionaire boyfriend Laird (James Franco). Ned instantly loathes him and thinks he is no match for his precious daughter. To make matters worse, Laird is ready to propose to his girlfriend and can’t wait to join the family.

The trailer is filled with hilarious scenes of Franco inappropriately cursing at all times,...

Fox comedy Why Him? has cast of its central characters today in Griffin Gluck, the up-and-comer best known for his roles across Back in the Game and teen musical dramedy Red Band Society.

Word comes by way of Deadline, who report that Gluck has joined a cast that already boasts both James Franco and Trumbo star Bryan Cranston in key roles. In essence, the John Hamburg-directed film centers on the bitter rivalry that spawns between the two leads when, after travelling across country to visit his daughter at college, Cranston’s mild-mannered patriarch is left competing for his daughter’s attention with Franco’s obnoxious and brash billionaire.

So far, so perfect casting. Cranston may have spent five seasons as the apex predator of Albuquerque, but the Emmy award-winning actor has honed his talents portraying the underdog dad in Malcom in the Middle, and Why Him? looks set to...

Bryan Cranston and James Franco recently worked together on the upcoming drama In Dubious Battle (which was also directed by The Interview star), and Variety is reporting that Cranston and Franco are set to reteam for a comedy titled Why Him? John Hamburg (I Love You, Man, Along Came Polly) will direct from a script he's co-writing with Ian Helfer. Shawn Levy (21 Laps) and Ben Stiller (Red Hour Films) are... Read More...

20th Century Fox has announced that Bryan Cranston and James Franco will star in the "Why Him" comedy, which will be directed by John Hamburg (I Love You Man) from a script co-written by Ian Helfer (The Oranges). The film takes place over the holidays as a Midwestern dad (Cranston) travels with his family to visit his daughter at college, and soon finds himself in a bitter rivalry for her affections with her new, brash tech billionaire boyfriend (Franco). Production is set to begin in Los Angeles in February.

Bryan Cranston has just worked with James Franco on one of the latter’s recent directorial outings, In Dubious Battle, which he’s putting through post-production now. They’re set to team up again, this time both just as actors for the new comedy Why Him?John Hamburg, who appears to be channelling his own work on the Meet The Parents films (and a little pinch of TV’s Cuckoo) has cooked up the idea, which finds a Midwestern father taking his family to visit his daughter, who is attending Stanford. But the Christmastime trip is soured somewhat when he meets her boyfriend, an ambitious Internet billionaire (think Sean Parker more than Mark Zuckerberg), played by Franco and immediately takes a disliking to him. Thus kicks off a battle for his daughter’s attention as the dad tries to compete with this charismatic new rival. Hamburg co-wrote the script with...

Too busy cooking meth and being a criminal legend to be a father in Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston’s taking a more involved approach to parenthood in Fox comedy Why Him? Indeed, the title is an apt question to ask in conjunction with Cranston boarding the film, especially as his forthcoming slate of movies veer closer to prestige pics than lightweight mainstream comedies. And make no mistake: this latest one bears all the hallmarks of seasonal family fluff.

Except its director and writer team don’t do fluff. John Hamburg (I Love You, Man, Along Came Polly) is attached to direct and co-write the script with Ian Helfer (The Oranges), which takes place over the holiday season “when a Midwestern dad travels with his family to visit his daughter at college, and soon finds himself in a battle for her affections with her brash new tech billionaire boyfriend.”

Cranston is attached as the father,...

Bryan Cranston will star alongside James Franco in the 20th Century Fox and 21 Laps comedy “Why Him?” an individual with knowledge of the casting told TheWrap. The film follows a Midwestern dad (Cranston) who travels to visit his daughter at college, only to find himself in conflict with her tech billionaire boyfriend (Franco). John Hamburg is directing in addition to co-writing the script with Ian Helfer. Shawn Levy is producing under his 21 Laps banner, while Ben Stiller is also attached as a producer through Red Hour Films. Also Read: Bryan Cranston Plays Blacklisted Screenwriter in 'Trumbo' First Trailer Cranston and Franco are.

Bryan Cranston has been set to star opposite James Franco in Why Him, the 20th Century Fox comedy to be directed and co-written by Meet The Parents and Zoolander scribe John Hamburg. Hamburg previously directed I Love You Man and Along Came Polly. He co-wrote this one with Ian Helfer. The logline: Over the holidays, a Midwestern dad travels with his family to visit his daughter at college, and soon finds himself in a battle for her affections with her new, brash tech…...

New Projects is a weekly round up of movies and TV shows recently announced and currently in development for the near future.

See, Netflix isn’t just in the business of producing multiple Adam Sandler movies. Their next big original film deal will likely help them compete even more with HBO, as they’re teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio and his Appian Way Pictures to produce a series of environmental documentaries as Netflix originals.

DiCaprio executive produced Virunga, a documentary about mountain gorillas in the Congo, that was eventually released by Netflix and was nominated for an Oscar this year. Now DiCaprio will continue to produce or executive produce original documentaries or ones acquired through film festivals, all part of a multi-year deal between Netflix and Appian Way.

“Working with Netflix on Virunga has sparked a shared vision about projects that we want to develop and bring to viewers,” said DiCaprio via The Hollywood Reporter.

John Hamburg knows a little something about comedies where parents disapprove of their spawn’s dating choices – he wrote all three of the Meet The Parents films. He’s dipping into that well again for a new movie, called Why Him? and he has James Franco in talks to star.The script, which Hamburg co-wrote with Bad Neighbours director Nick Stoller and The Oranges writer Ian Helfer, finds a Midwestern father taking his family to visit his daughter, who is attending Stanford. But the Christmastime trip is soured somewhat when he meets her boyfriend, an ambitious Internet billionaire (probably think Sean Parker more than Mark Zuckerberg) – the role Franco is up for – and immediately takes a disliking to him.Thus kicks off a battle for his daughter’s attention as the dad tries to compete with this charismatic new rival. Hamburg, who most recently made TV movie Good Session, is...

James Franco is in talks to star in Fox comedy, Why him?

Variety reports Franco is in negotiations to star in John Hamburg's comedy.

Why Him? follows a Midwestern father who takes his family on a trip to visit his daughter who is attending Stanford University.

He gets into a competition with his daughter's boyfriend, who is an internet billionaire.

Hamburg co-wrote the script with Nicholas Stoller and Ian Helfer.

The 36-year-old recently starred in the controversial comedy The Interview alongside Seth Rogen and has just been cast in Jj Abrams' adaptation of Stephen King's 11/22/63.

Watch the trailer for Franco's latest project, True Story alongside Jonah Hill, below:...

James Franco is in early negotiations to star in the Fox comedy “Why Him?,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. John Hamburg is attached to direct the film from a script he co-wrote with Nicholas Stoller and Ian Helfer. Also Read: James Franco, Seth Rogen: Sony’s Interview-Less ‘Interview’ Premiere (Photos) The story follows a father who takes the family to Stanford to visit his daughter at Christmas and ends up in a competition against the daughter’s boyfriend, an internet billionaire. Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour are producing. Also Read: ‘The Interview,...

DreamWorks Animation's fantasy caper causes sun to set on Twilight, ahead of The Hobbit's expected journey to first place

The winner

For most movies, a successful opening weekend is vital for hanging on to play dates and show times. With Christmas flicks, it's more of a steady jog than a sprint, and cinema bookers understand that playability will be strong right through to 24 December, and particularly solid after schools break up for the holiday. DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians hardly turned heads when it landed in third place last week, behind Skyfall and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

Now it's top of the heap, thanks to a slender decline of just 19%. Three-day takings of £1.60m push the 10-day tally to £4.06m. Fellow festive offering Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! fell an almost identical amount (20%) and has totalled £4.38m after 17 days. It now remains to be seen how...

I’m not sure a better cast has ever gone more ickily astray than in this most misbegotten of dramedies. At least, I think there are meant to be comedic elements in this oh-so-wrong tale of infidelity, infelicity, and impropriety... I’m just not sure I see it myself. David Walling (Hugh Laurie: Arthur Christmas) and Terry Ostroff (Oliver Platt: X-Men: First Class) are best friends whose lives are so intimately intertwined that they’ve lived across the street from each other in West Orange, New Jersey, for more than 20 years. Their wives -- respectively, Paige (Catherine Keener: Trust) and Carol (Allison Janney: The Help) -- are now also best friends; their kids grew up together; they spend holidays together. Such as this Thanksgiving, when 20something ne’er-do-well Ostroff daughter Nina (Leighton Meester: Country Strong) returns home after years away, and after personal disaster strikes, tail between her legs --...

The Oranges sees the very promising and rather unlikely pairing of Hugh Laurie (House) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girls) in the leading roles.

We caught the excellent first trailer back in the summer, and with an all-star cast led by Laurie and Meester, it’s naturally been one to look forward to this year.

The film was released in the Us back in October, and will be released in UK theatres this Friday, and we’ve been given an exclusive new clip from the film to share.

“David and Paige Ostroff (Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Walling (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Rather than developing an...

It was a pleasure to talk to Hugh Laurie aka Dr. House for his new suburban dramedy, .The Oranges.. In the film directed by Julian Farino from a script by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss, Laurie stars as David, the head of the Walling family, who falls in love with Nina (Leighton Meester), the prodigal daughter of their longtime friend, the Ostroff family. .The Oranges. features a fantastic ensemble cast including Adam Brody, Catherine Keener, Allison Janney, and Oliver Platt.

In this fun but short (we had to cut it short because of mic problems) interview, we talked about:

*** What got Laurie interested in making .The Oranges?.

*** How did he get into his character David?

Have fun!

Hugh Laurie is fun to watch in suburban satire The Oranges but Leighton Meester stumbles badly Ah, suburbia, ground zero for countless comedies ready to poke fun at affluent dysfunction. It’s no wonder British filmmaker Julian Farino and screenwriters Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss drop anchor on tree-lined New Jersey streets for their indie comedy The Oranges. The slapstick possibilities involving suburban families are endless: sexless marriages, fitness-obsessed husbands and disinterested kids. With clever storytelling, suburbia is anything but a dull stomping ground. Think Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, Todd Solondz’s Happiness or Todd Field’s Little Children. Unfortunately, while The Oranges hits the target in terms of locale and an infidelity storyline, it comes up short in the number of solid laughs. For a film with so much promise, mediocrity is a terrible letdown.

Hugh Laurie is fun to watch in suburban satire The Oranges but Leighton Meester stumbles badly Ah, suburbia, ground zero for countless comedies ready to poke fun at affluent dysfunction. It’s no wonder British filmmaker Julian Farino and screenwriters Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss drop anchor on tree-lined New Jersey streets for their indie comedy The Oranges. The slapstick possibilities involving suburban families are endless: sexless marriages, fitness-obsessed husbands and disinterested kids. With clever storytelling, suburbia is anything but a dull stomping ground. Think Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, Todd Solondz’s Happiness or Todd Field’s Little Children. Unfortunately, while The Oranges hits the target in terms of locale and an infidelity storyline, it comes up short in the number of solid laughs. For a film with so much promise, mediocrity is a terrible letdown.

The Oranges

Directed by Julian Farino

Written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss

USA, 2011

Voiceover narration isn’t automatically a crutch in modern storytelling, but too many writers use it so they don’t have to do actual work. For every clever use of this literary trick—such as the narration in Sunset Boulevard or The Shawshank Redemption—there are movies and TV shows with no idea of how to enhance already existing stories or character arcs with voiceover. Instead, the people working on those films and shows use narration to move stories forward quickly and artlessly. The Oranges, a would-be biting suburban satire, employs voiceover in such a way that sometimes intentionally references American Beauty, but only serves as a reminder of why that caustic and often incisive black comedy worked so well, and why this film fails so frequently.

If nothing else, The Oranges could’ve been worse...

Featuring an ensemble cast, suburban setting, and humorous holiday shenanigans, “The Oranges” seemed initially to be heading toward “Christmas With The Kranks” territory as it approached its Tiff premiere last year. However, since the project's 2008 Black List inclusion by writers Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, a steady buzz has grown into the film's well-received screenings and recent first trailer, and now comes an opportunity to see Allison Janney cut loose in the film's red-band offering. Coming off directing mostly “Entourage” episodes, director Julian Farino looks to have transferred successfully to film by skewing stranger than your average holiday fare. While not delving to the depths of “Bad Santa,” the comedy nonetheless offers up its own take on marital infidelity, as Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, and Janney play congenial couples who react to Laurie's sudden affair with Platt's daughter...

There’s a new red band trailer for the R-rated indie comedy The Oranges, which stars Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Allison Janney, Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat, Catherine Keener, and Oliver Platt.

Hit the jump and watch the new trailer.

The upcoming film is directed by Julian Farino and written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss.

Here’s the synopsis for the film

David and Paige Walling (Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Ostroff (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Adam Brody), which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David who captures Nina’s attention.

Check out poster 2 for The Oranges, starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester. The Ato Pictures release helmed by Julian Farino from the script by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss, opens October 5th, 2012. David and Paige Walling (Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Ostroff (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Adam Brody), which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David who captures Nina’s attention.

Check out poster 2 for The Oranges, starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester. The Ato Pictures release helmed by Julian Farino from the script by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss, opens October 5th, 2012. David and Paige Walling (Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Ostroff (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Adam Brody), which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David who captures Nina’s attention.

Last week, we brought you the first poster for The Oranges, with the unlikely and very promising pairing of Hugh Laurie (House) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) in the leads, and now we can do you one better with the film’s trailer debut.

And it’s brilliant. Starring alongside Laurie and Meester will be Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, and Catherine Keener, filling out an already brilliant cast.

“David and Paige Ostroff (Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Walling (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Adam Brody), which would please both families,...

I saw The Oranges at the Toronto Film Festival last year and quite liked it. The script from Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer made the Black List back in 2008 and the version I saw was fresh... fresh in the sense that director Julian Farino ("Entourage") told the told the audience before it screened that he'd only finished editing the film two days ago. That said, it has likely undergone a few edits since Ato Pictures picked it up and set an October 5 release date. Starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Leighton Meester, Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt, this suburbia comedy centers on two West Orange, New Jersey families. The Ostroff's (Platt, Janney and Meester) and the Walling's (Laurie, Keener, Shawkat and Brody). Best friends and across-the-street neighbors for as long as they can remember, things take a bit of a turn when Walling patriarch (Laurie) falls for...

The Oranges sees the unlikely and promising casting of Hugh Laurie (House) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) opposite each other in the leads, with impressive support from Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, and Catherine Keener.

The romantic comedy/drama debuted back in September last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, and now the first poster has made its way online ahead of its release later this year.

“David and Paige Ostroff (Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Walling (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Adam Brody),which would please both families,...

The notion of suburban malaise is nothing new, and it's been well-mined in plenty of novels and movies and TV shows already.  Wisely, "The Oranges" is not trying to blow the lid off the notion that marriages sometimes crumble or that suburbia frequently hides secrets behind its white picket fences.  Instead, the script by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer is a no-apologies comedy, and it gives the large ensemble cast some juicy material to play, allowing them to really run wild.  Director Julian Farino, making his feature debut, has a great sense of character and timing, and the result is a...

Oliver Plat, Allison Janney, Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Alia Shawkat and Adam Brody in The Oranges

Photo: Olympus Pictures The Oranges is a film that's been on my radar for some time. In 2008 Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer's script sat just behind The Beaver, in second place on the ever-popular Black List, a list of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. The script even got a mention before the film rolled at its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last night as director Julian Farino ("Entourage") nervously told the packed house he hoped it lived up to everyone's expectations while also telling us he only finished editing two days ago.

Farino can rest easy, he's made a very funny film and assembled just the right cast to bring it to the big screen. It is a bit obvious he only completed editing recently as it...

#8. The Oranges The Gist: Written by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, the Ostroff and Walling families are best friends and neighbors, living across the street from each other on Orange Drive. Prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Meester) returns home for Thanksgiving dinner after a five-year absence, newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Rosen). Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Brody), which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David Walling (Laurie) that captures Nina’s attention. Director: Julian Farino (Television work: Sex and the City, Entourage, Big Love, The Office)Sales Agent: CAASelling Point/Suited For: The number 2 on 2008's Best Unproduced Blacklist screenplays behind The Beaver and before fellow 2011 invited Tiff items: Butter (#3), 50/50 (#9) and The Descendants (#17), in some regards this ensemble headed by Hugh Laurie might remind some of the workings of an American Beauty. This infidelity in...

Klaus Badelt is the composer of the upcoming indie dark comedy The Oranges. The movie is directed by Julian Farino (Entourage) and stars High Laurie, Leighton Meester, Catherine Keener, Adam Brody, Alia Shawkat, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt. The film centers on a man who begins an affair with the daughter of the family who lives across the street. Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss wrote the project’s screenplay. Anthony Bregman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Leslie Urdang & Dean Vanech (Rabbit Hole, Beginners) are producing. Badelt previously worked with Bregman on last year’s comedy The Extra Man starring Kevin Kline. The Oranges is set to premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. No distribution deal has been announced yet.

As previously reported, Badelt also has the drama Seven Days in Utopia opening this month in the Us and the French thriller Rebellion coming out in France this fall.

#55. The Oranges Director: Julian FarinoWriter(s): Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss Producers: Anthony Bregman, Leslie Urdang and Dean VanechDistributor: Rights Available. The Gist: The Ostroff and Walling families are best friends and neighbors, living across the street from each other on Orange Drive. Prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Meester) returns home for Thanksgiving dinner after a five-year absence, newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Rosen). Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Brody), which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David Walling (Laurie) that captures Nina’s attention. ....(more) Cast: Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt List Worthy Reasons...: From the same family of films as Nothing is Private and American Beauty, my thinking is that plenty of folks will dig the tone of yet another BlackList screenplay I've got on this list.

Somewhat of a rarity that all three top vote-getters were put into production fairly quickly - and that 2011 will also be the year of release on the top trio of 2008. If there are any correlations to make it's that they're all comedies, relatively easier to mount and produce and grab an ensemble cast for short spurts. Will a comedy be the best ranked Black List item for 2010? We'll find out next week. 5. The Low Dweller (Votes: 40) Writer: Brad Ingelsby Status: Unknown When adding high-grade, A-lister talent to topline a given project, the nature of this business is that "priorities" easily shift -- it can take years to sort through what is next in line as is the case for Leo DiCaprio. He has his name on this one combined with his production house Appian Way, Relativity, Scott Free Productions, Energy Entertainment. This is about “a man trying to assimilate into...

#35. The Oranges - Julian Farino Positioned right after top vote getter The Beaver in the annual Black List (2008), Julian Farino's The Oranges should be another big ticket sales item in the Premieres category. Pic stars Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Adam Brody, Catherine Keener, Alia Shawkat, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Tim Guinee and Sam Rosen. Written by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, the Ostroff and Walling families are best friends and neighbors, living across the street from each other on Orange Drive. Prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Meester) returns home for Thanksgiving dinner after a five-year absence, newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Rosen). Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbors, Toby Walling (Brody), which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David Walling (Laurie) that captures Nina’s attention. When the romantic attraction between Nina and David becomes too great to ignore,...

Fox has ordered a new comedy project from John Hamburg. Hamburg, who is best known for writing Meet The Parents, co-created the show and will write it with Oranges scribe Ian Helfer. Deadline says that the programme focuses on a father and son who both get divorced. The pair end up living together and start entering the world of dating. (more)...

Writer and director John Hamburg sold his sitcom pitch to Fox while busy finishing work on the third film in the “Meet the Parents” franchise “Little Fockers.” According to “Deadline,” Hamburg and co-writer and co-creator Ian Helfer sold Fox on their pitch for a sitcom about a father and son, both newly divorced, who become roommates and hit the dating scene together. Hamburg, Helfer, Peter Chernin of Chernin Entertainment and Katherine Pope are all executive producing.

It will go down in the annals of TV Selling Season 2010 as the project that was pitched and sold over the phone. Fox has closed a deal for a single-camera comedy from Meet the Parents writer John Hamburg. The untitled project, which Hamburg co-created and will co-write with Ian Helfer, is about a father and son, both recently divorced, who become roommates and explore the dating world together. It hails from 20th Century Fox TV and studio-based Chernin Entertainment. It stems from a blind script deal Hamburg signed with the 20th TV in August. Hamburg, Helfer, Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope are all executive producing. Hamburg, who co-wrote all 3 films in the Meet the Parents franchise, has been so busy working on the upcoming third installment, Little Fockers, in New York that he couldn't fly in for pitch meetings with the networks. He ended up pitching the project over the...

HollywoodNews.com: Anthony Bregman of Likely Story and Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub of Big Beach announced that Paul Rudd has signed on to star in “My Idiot Brother,” a comedy about family and the sacrifices it takes to deal with them. Based on a screenplay by Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall, “My Idiot Brother” will be directed by Jesse Peretz. Production is slated to begin in July in New York. Bregman, Saraf and Turtletaub will produce for their respective companies. Caroline Jaczko, Stefanie Azpiazu and Aleen Keshishian will executive produce. Rudd and Peretz have worked together previously on “The Château.” Rudd will next be seen starring in Jay Roach’s “Dinner for Schmucks” opposite Steve Carell and James Brooks’ “How Do You Know” opposite Reese Witherspoon. He will also be producing (alongside Judd Apatow, Wain, and Ken Marino) and starring in David Wain’s “Wanderlust” opposite Jennifer Aniston.

Ned (Rudd) is an idealist.

Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Sam Rosen are all set to join "The Oranges" for director Julian Farino. They join Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener and Leighton Meester indie dark comedy written by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer. The movie follows a man (Laurie) who starts an affair with the daughter (played by Meester) of the family who lives across the street. Likely Story' Anthony Bregman and Leslie Urdang and Dean Vanech of Olympus Pictures are producing the Olympus ("Adam," "Rabbit Hole") financed film. FIlming is taking place in New York. Janney has completed work on Kenneth Longergan's "Margaret" starring Anna Paquin and Matt Damon. Shawkat was last seen in "The Runaways" and is in post-production for "The Lie" with Kelli Garner and Jess Weixler. Platt was in Roland Emmerich's "2012" distaster flick followed by "Please Give" with Catherine Keener and Amanda Peet.