Jake Kasdan To Direct Bad Teacher
The Hollywood Reporterare reporting (from Hollywood, no less) thatJake Kasdanhas signed on to directBad Teacher. The screenplay charted on the 2008 Blacklist and was penned byGene StupnitskyandLee Eisenberg, who also wrote the imminentYear Oneand are at work on the pending draft ofGhostbusters 3.
TheBad Teacherscreenplay revolves around Elizabeth Halsey, a teacher with a cussin' problem (er… no comment) who ends up in a bitter rivalry with her squeaky-clean colleague Amy Squirrel. Elizabeth is the sort of girl who wakes up at 3.40 in the afternoon, looks for breakfast in the fridge but finds only packets of ketchup, mustard and soy sauce so turns to her bong instead. I’m expecting that Rashida Jones will be front of the line for the role and that she’ll make hay with the truly hilarious bad behavior laid out on the page.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that Scarlett Johansson would be a sought after actress for the Amy Squirrel role. Even if she doesn’t get the part you’ll see why I suggested her here when they announce who has.
The script is actually pretty darn funny, and I think I’ll definitely find it gratifying to see a school set film that focuses on the adults, and not the pupils.
I’m a great fan of Kasdan’s films and TV work. PerhapsOrange Countyunderwhelmed me a little, but I found Mike White’s script to be the biggest issue there. His debut film wasZero Effect, a modern day blend ofSherlock Holmesand, after a fashion,Batmanthat starred Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller in the Holmes/Watson-come-Bruce/Dick roles and is criminally underknown. The greatest world’s greatest detective film that nobody much has ever seen.
WhetherBad Teacherwill go into production before the Vegas magician pictureBurt Dickenson, the last Kasdan project announced, isn’t yet clear but a nice one-two would be good.
