Jake Kasdan, of Zero Effect, Orange County, The TV Set and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story previously, is putting together another, what looks to be strong, comedy ensemble with his latest feature, Bad Teacher. Today there’s word that Justin Timberlake has taken the male lead role opposite Cameron Diaz. (Timberlake and Diaz together again? Flashbulbs pop.) Joining them are Jason Segel, John Michael Higgins, Lucy Punch, Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family”) and Molly Shannon (“Kath & Kim”).
From the tandem that wrote Year One (Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky), the story involves a foul-mouthed, gold-digging seventh-grade teacher who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, sets her sights on a colleague (Punch) who is dating a substitute teacher, who also is the “scion of a watch fortune.”
Segel has a supporting role as a gym teacher and Higgins will play the principal.
John Krasinski, Joel McHale, Timothy Olyphant, Guy Pearce, Adam Scott and relative newcomer Cheyenne Jackson were in the mix for table reads and other tests.
The Pulse: Okay, the whole “scion of a watch fortune” bit came from a Sony press release, so don’t go thinking I’m trying to emphasize words written myself. With Justin Timberlake having finished his Facebook film with Fight Club‘s David Fincher (The Social Network), it looks like he’s trying to push his way into larger movie roles. Well, anything to get him farther from The Love Guru is a step in the right direction.
As for the film, considering the writers were responsible for one of the worst films of 2009, this doesn’t bode well. But Jake Kasdan has made some good comedies, especially the low profile TV Set. So now I don’t know what to think.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
