Yep, even more from EW‘s massive fall issue (in print, not online), so bear with us.
The latest image to land is from the Judd Apatow-produced, Paul Feig-directed comedy, “Bridesmaids.”
The film boasts a massive ensemble cast led by Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm, Oscar winner Dianne Wiest, Matthew Lucas (U.K. hit comedy show “Little Britain,” Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland”), Chris O’Dowd (“The I.T. Crowd,” the upcoming “Gulliver’s Travels”), Ellie Kemper (Erin on “The Office”), Melissa McCarthy (“Gilmore Girls”), and Wendy McLendon-Covey (“Reno:911”).
The film centers on Annie (Wiig), a simple and single 30-something Midwestern girl (with poor dating track record) who is asked to be her best friend Lillian’s (Rudolph) maid of honor. However, having never done the job, she struggles to please the snobby, rich bridesmaids at every pre-wedding event. One of Lillian’s best friends is essentially the bridesmaid from hell (Byrne) — who attempts to take over the maid of honor duties from the inexperienced Annie. There’s an awkward policeman in the film who vies for Wiig’s affections (eventually) and we think it’s a pretty good guess that role probably belongs to Hamm.
“It’s more of a story about friendship than a ‘wedding movie’,” Wiig told EW. “There’s a weird pressure in society, and in a lot of these kinds of movies, that says you need to be married. We were careful about avoiding that.”
We’re always up for female-centered comedies that don’t have them chasing after the same man or simply serving as window dressing while boys get bigger laughs. The script for this one was great, even in an early, obviously unfinished state. We’re big fans of Wiig, Rudolph and Kemper in particular, and we hope this gives each of them a good foothold into feature projects (seriously, how much was Rudolph wasted in “Grown Ups”?).
The film went in front of cameras earlier this year and is already slated for a May 12, 2011 release date.
More excited for this than any of the other Apatow or Apatow related movies coming out. The only wild card for me is Paul Fieg, who, while seeming like a hell of a guy and a decent writer, I think is kind of a shitty director. Hopefully he can get out of the way of Wiig and Mumolo's script.
Why do I keep thinking this all-female cast of comedy actresses will be more successful than Judd Apatow's previous pieces of garbage?
This looks like a fun and refreshing movie. Looking forward to it.
Isn't it a bit too early to start talking about a movie that isn't due to be released for another nine months? That said … it's always nice to see new pics of Rose Byrne. She's an angel.
Paul Feig is an outstanding director – look at all the incredible television he has directed recently. His film ventures haven't been as successful, but that was more a case of bad material than bad direction.