Judd Apatow
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Pineapple Express has scarcely been released across the country, but it's safe to Judd Apatow has another hit on his hands.

The writer talked about his latest project in a recent interview. Here are excerpts:

What were the actors actually smoking in the movie?
Well they smoked this thing the prop people had, I’m sure it was made of pure asbestos or something even worse for your lungs than actual marijuana. But I really don’t know. I did not smoke it and I didn’t show any care of how bad it taste or how damaging it was to the actors.

Do you think this will be James Franco's breakout comedy role?
I think so. He’s such a warm funny guy in person and he’s made a lot of choices which put him in deadly serious movies, but there’s this other side to him you see in Pineapple Express. He’s a very inspired comedic mind. He holds his own with the best comedians of this generation with ease. What I love about it is he makes you believe that this guy actually exists. Right now in an apartment in LA somewhere, you feel that guy is watching “227.”

According to Variety, Judd Apatow (pictured) has added Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill to his previously-announced Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana comedy.

Aptly, the film is called Funny People.

The filmmaker, who last wrote and directed Knocked Up, hasn't commented on the plot of the movie, as he's only said it takes place in the world of standup comedy and the focus is on a comedian who has a near-death experience.

It's hard to take Judd Apatow seriously when it comes to, well, anything.

But the mere mention of an Anchorman sequel has the Reel Movie News staff giddy, so we have to at least post Apatorw's recent comments to MTV.

"The movie that probably has a best shot at a sequel is Anchorman. Ron Burgundy would be hilarious at 70-years-old, being the anchor," the writer/director mused of what films on his resume might demand to be revisited.

Come on, you cant tell us the sight of an elderly Will Ferrell, still boisterous and conceited, warm milk dribbling down his now white beard, doesn't make you laugh out loud. Make it happen. Judd!

"Yeah," Apatow laughed, "We all think it would be fun to see him up on his feet again doing what only he can do. That would be awesome �" but it could only happen in 30 years."

Write in now and share your thoughts: Would you watch an Anchorman sequel?

Fans of Knocked Up and Superbad are in for a trio of treats over the next few months: writer/director Judd Apatow has three movies coming out.

He recently spoke to ComingSoon.net about them all:

CS: Tell me a little bit about "Drillbit Taylor" and the cast.
Apatow: "Drillbit Taylor" is a hilarious movie that Seth Rogen wrote with Kris Brown. They both wrote for this TV show we did called "Undeclared" and Seth obviously wrote "Superbad" and also "Pineapple Express." It's about these kids that are being bullied and they hire a bodyguard who they think is an Army Ranger. It really turns out that he is just a homeless guy who is planning on stealing and robbing their parents' houses.

The original idea came from John Hughes who wrote a treatment of the movie but he never got around to writing it. So when Paramount said, "Hey, guys you want to write this idea that John Hughes never got around to doing?" We said "sure. We'll take a pop at it."

CS: Moving on to the film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," what was it like working on that set?
Apatow: "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was a movie written by Jason Segel who was one of the stars on "Knocked Up" and "Freaks and Geeks." It's about a guy whose girlfriend dumps him. He goes to Hawaii to get over it and she happens to be at the same resort with her new rock star boyfriend.

The rock star is played by Russell Brand, who is a very famous comedian in England. His girlfriend is played by Kristen Bell from "Heroes." He starts falling for a woman who works at the hotel played by Mila Kunis. Jason Segel really came through and wrote this hysterical script. He's always been the kind of comedy actor that I thought is really fun to watch get beat up on. We call it a romantic disaster movie.

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Hilarious director Judd Apatow recently spoke with MovieWeb about the upcoming Owen Wilson comedy, Drillbit Taylor. Here's an excerpt:

Who are some of your favorite on-screen bullies, and did you pull anything from them and reflect that back into this film?
Judd Apatow: Matt Dillon. His first couple of film roles were as a bully. I loved him in My Bodyguard. He was really charismatic and handsome, and terrifying all in one. I also love the bully in Three O'Clock High. The Phil Joanou movie. My buddy Paul Feig was an actor in that film. He was the creator of Freaks and Geeks.

I remember when I first met Paul, he told me he was in Three O'Clock High, which had just came out. This was the most exciting thing that I had ever heard. That he played one of the kids in Three O'Clock High. But other than that, I don't know. I'm not sure. I think Alex Frost, who plays the bully in this, and he is in this new movie Stop Loss, is a great actor. He is both scary and funny.

We also have Josh Peck from the Drake & Josh show on Nickelodeon. He plays the other school bully, and he is a pretty funny kid. He does some interesting, demented stuff in this movie.

Read the full interview with Apatow now.

According to Variety, Judd Apatow has signed up to produce Five-Year Engagement for Universal Pictures.

The project reteams the studio with the duo behind the upcoming comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall: writer-director Nick Stoller and writer-star Jason Segel.

The movie, of course, will be a bawdy, couples comedy that charts the five-year engagement of a man (Segel) and his fiancee, following the ups and downs of their relationship.

"It's definitely an extension of our desire to explore the depth of human misery," Stoller said. "If Sarah Marshall (played by Kristen Bell) and Jason's character had stayed together, this might be the sequel."

Judd Apatow recently penned a guest column for MTV. In it, the writer/director talks about how he came up with the concept for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Here are a few highlights from the article:

- On Casting John C. Reilly: In order to write this film, we needed a star in mind to play the lead role, and we immediately knew that John C. Reilly was the only guy who could do it. John is a brilliant actor, but he is also ridiculously funny and, strangely enough, has this gorgeous Roy Orbison-type singing voice.

- On Writing the Movie: [Director Jake Kasdan] and I wrote much of the movie over the phone. We would stay up till all hours talking about the many music biopics we had seen. In the morning my wife would say, "Did you have fun giggling with your girlfriend last night?"

- The Film's Inspiration: We also talked a lot about the mythology of rock and roll. Many hours were spent kicking around all the legends: Keith Richards supposedly having all his blood replaced, Elvis being high when speaking to Nixon, etc.

Apatow then goes on to list his favorite, personal musical experiences. It's a solid read.