Greg Mottola's super comedy in the making: 'Paul'

Posted Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 3:35 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Director Greg Mottola is far from a household name -- or even one known to many movie buffs. His upcoming film Paul may change that.

The writer-director best known for the 2007 hit Superbad is assembling a standout cast for his latest project. Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Jane Lynch recently joined Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz mates Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for the comedy.

According to Variety, here is the film's premise:

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien.

Rogen will provide the Paul's voice. No word if the alien will be computer animated but that's my assumption (and fear).

Mottola is quickly amassing a revolving cast of characters, much like his contemporaries Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith, and the Coen Brothers. Rogen wrote and co-starred in Superbad. Hader was the other cop in Superbad and was also in Greg's last film Adventureland. So too was fellow SNL cast member Wiig.

Mottola previously worked with Rogen on several episodes of Apatow's Undeclared TV series. He also directed Bateman in a couple of Arrested Development episodes.

When stars gravitate around a particular director, you know the person is something special. With only four features under his belt, Mottola already seems to have that affinity.

Incidentally, Adventureland was recently announced on DVD and Blu-ray for an Aug. 25 release. The movie received good reviews from critics but failed to find an audience in theaters. It's destined to be a cult classic on DVD.

What do you think? Are you excited for this grouping of comedy superstars? Are you one of the few who saw Adventureland in theaters? If so, did you like it?