'Frenemy of the State,' from Rashida Jones, picked up by Universal

By Sarah Sluis

Rashida Jones is full of surprises. When I interviewed director John Hamburg earlier this year, he praised Jones' acting in I Love You, Man (she plays Paul Rudd's fiance). I was pleased to see her on the big screen after being charmed by her performance on "The Office" and the budding "Parks & Recreation." Turns out, she's a writer, too, and she's just sold her second project to Universal and Imagine Entertainment.

She co-writes with Will McCormack, who, like Jones, mainly has acting credits to his name. Their latest project is graphic novel Frenemy of the State (which doesn't appear to be published yet). The story centers on a girly-girl heiress type who stalks her ex-boyfriends. After getting in trouble for her stalking, she's offered a chance to put her skills to work as a CIA spy in exchange for having the charge dropped. On one hand, the story is recycling old tropes, like that of a girly-girl or someone obsessed with relationships. Plus, who hasn't seen a million spy movies? But: consider Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which a girly-girl suddenly wields a ton of power. The story, in particular the television series, was heralded as an example of a strong, powerful woman. My guess is, this story will follow the same path.

As for her first project, Celeste and Jesse Forever? Fox Atomic originally picked up the screenplay, but when the label shuttered Overture jumped in and grabbed it. While no start date for the movie (which Jones will also star in) has been set, I'm hoping that Overture's pouncing indicates they're as eager for this film to be made as I am. The comedy centers on a divorcing couple who try to maintain their friendship even as they begin dating other people. Breaking-up stories are just so much more interesting--and funny--than falling-in-love stories.

In fact, Celeste and Jesse Forever's emphasis on a falling-apart, stressed relationship sounds similar to a Drew Barrymore/Justin Long movie that just wrapped, Going the Distance. Set to release next October, the movie follows a couple struggling through a long-distance relationship, and eventually deciding it won't work out for them. Nanette Burstein, who did the lovely documentary American Teen (even capturing an incidence of sexting gone wrong, before it jumped the shark on daytime television), is making her feature debut on the movie, which is also on my must-see list.

And while I'm on my interesting-projects-involving-women path, a rather mysterious project was picked up yesterday by Paramount for $2 million. It came from a screenwriter known for female fare (27 Dresses, Morning Glory, The Devil Wears Prada) and one known for male-oriented action flicks (Sherlock Holmes, X-Men: The Last Stand, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), so I will be on the lookout for a logline to decipher this combination. I'm hoping Mr. and Mrs. Smith will offer a hint, though, of the pitch's direction--I found that movie to be a clever homage to classic screwball within the context of an action movie.

Coupling off: Studios attaching stars to their rom-coms

By Sarah Sluis

Love is in the air. News of developing romantic comedies just keeps on coming:

First, it was Cameron Diaz announcing she will star in Swingles, a tired-sounding romantic comedy with

an inevitable coupling you can see miles away. She will play an acerbic woman who serves as a

replacement wingman for a hard-to-please guy who has been dumped by his (male) wingman. I see a little Hitch in here, a little battle-of-the-sexes, but this movie better be filled to the brim with jokes in order to get it past the premise.

Then, third-time's-the-charm, a currently untitled romantic comedy, previously titled Wichita and Trouble Man, has again been dredged up as a possible romance between Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Cruise is also considering presidential thriller The 28th Amendment, so this is likely just one of many announcements that will take place as the star settles on his next project. If it goes forward, Cruise would play a man who mysteriously pops up into a lovelorn Diaz's life after one blind date.

Rashida Jones, fresh off her star turn as Paul Rudd's fiance in I Love You, Man, has been cast in spec project Celeste and Jesse Forever. The script follows a young, divorcing couple who try to remain friends as they forge new relationships and separate lives. It sounds quirky and unusual, and all the more so if they don't end up back together in the end (terrible, I know).

While not romantic, it's also worth mentioning that the Farrelly Brothers' incarnation of The Three Stooges has tightened its cast list: Sean Penn will be Larry, Jim Carrey plus forty pounds will be Curly, and Benicio Del Toro (hopefully) will be Moe. A project of passion that has cycled through studios for a decade, it's hoped that a fall production will make for a 2010 release date.

'Knowing' bests 'I Love You, Man' and 'Duplicity'

By Sarah Sluis

Knowing may have used some of those secret numbers in its plotline to glean advance knowledge of its box-office dominance: it pulled in $24.8 million, 37% more than runner-up I Love You, Man, while

releasing in only 20% more theatres. The Nicolas Cage starrer opened on par with his films Gone in 60 Seconds and Con Air, though it only pulled in half as much as his hit from two years ago, Ghost Rider.

Funnymen Paul Rudd and Jason Segal drove viewers to see I Love You, Man, which finished second with $18 million. Nearly even with the bromantic comedy, number three finisher Duplicity earned $14.4 million. All three of these titles will have little competition next weekend, giving them plenty of time to pick up more box office through word of mouth.

Right below Duplicity, kiddie flick Race to Witch Mountain earned $13 million, but will likely drop heavily next weekend with the release of Monsters vs. Aliens. Would-be blockbuster Watchmen earned half that at number five, coming in at $6.7 million and approaching the $100 million mark, which is still far under

the film's production costs. At number six, horror flick The Last House on the Left pulled in $5.9 million in its second week, but will have to withstand competition next week with the release of The Haunting in Connecticut.

Filling out the bottom four are long-lasting releases Slumdog Millionaire ($2.7 million), Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail ($2.5 million), Coraline ($2.1 million) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop ($1.8 million), all of which have been in theatres for at least a month. Of the four, Madea Goes to Jail and Coraline have not yet grossed $100 million, and are unlikely to pass the mark at the domestic box office.

This week, Monsters vs. Aliens and The Haunting of Connecticut open wide. The collapse of credit markets prevented many theatres from securing funding to convert their screens to digital, meaning the 3D family film will open on far fewer 3D screens than expected, yet another effect of the recession.

Preview: I Love You Man

By Sarah Sluis

Genres like romantic comedies work because they offer a predictable experience and predictable returns

at the box office. They're a safe investment, but in order to keep making them over and over again, you have to constantly innovate and twist the material. Sometimes, in the process, you move so far in another direction you create a new genre. Romantic comedies have gone through all types of incarnations, and the "bromance" might be the latest, based on my screening of Paramount's I Love You Man.

I Love You Man takes the plot structure of a romantic comedy, but recasts both the roles as men, and their relationship as that peculiar neologism "bromance." Unlike the buddy comedy, which brings to mind bantering cops and Grumpy Old Men cautiously circling each other before grudgingly accepting each other's company, I Love You Man has "man dates," nervous phone calls, and all the other hallmarks of a romantic comedy. It's also really, really funny, using that Judd Apatow-honed mix of vulgarity and sweetness. While not Apatow-produced, the movie casts Paul Rudd and Jason Segal, Apatow veterans, in leading roles.

Borrowing from those date-before-a-big-event deadline romantic comedies, Paul Rudd stars as a recently engaged "girlfriend guy," the kind of person who's always in a relationship. He lacks a cohort of male friends to hang out with�and invite to his wedding. Feeling freshly insecure about his lack of male friends, he decides to go in search of a best man for his wedding. There's the obvious joke (a botched date with a guy who assumes he is gay), before Rudd makes a friend at an open house (Jason Segal). Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) plays a Venice Beach loafer who wears Uggs on the boardwalk, eclectic vintage tees, and doesn't clean up after his dog. He's really cool, so cool that Rudd goes through all those nervous first date jitters before they settle down into a friendship. They bond and jam together to the point where their friendship comes between Rudd's relationship with his fiance (the fantastic "The Office" veteran Rashida Jones). True to romantic comedy convention, it all ends up okay in the end.

As a female, I half-expected to be alienated by the story of male bonding, but Rashida Jones provides a great entry point into the film. She's totally amused by Rudd's nervousness picking up the phone with Segal, his rambling voice mails, and his awkward vulnerability around his budding relationship with Segal. Paul Rudd himself has always played the sensitive, slightly neurotic type, a "girl's guy," and he's just as puzzled and out-of-place in the "man cave" as a female would be.

Paul Rudd most recently starred in fall's Role Models, itself a story of male bonding, albeit one of a big brother-little brother mentoring variety. I Love You Man is far bolder than that film or Apatow's male bonding tales, so I'm curious to see what other stories of bromance come to Hollywood. Wes Anderson, for example, recently signed on to write a screenplay for My Best Friend, a remake of French film Mon Meilleur Ami, about a friendless man who must go in search of a best friend in order to settle a bet.

This cluster of successful films exploring extremely close male friendship begs the question--why now, what is it about these films that have made them resonate with audiences? They open dialogue about about what it means to be gay or straight, but, as a whole, have also been critiqued for negative portrayals. Screenwriter Mike White, for example, famously spoke out against Judd Apatow films for their jokes lambasting women and gay men. I Love You Man takes audience expectations of gay behavior and does the opposite. For example, Rudd's gay brother, played by SNL's Andy Samberg (of "Lazy Sunday" fame) plays an Equinox personal trainer that likes to seduce straight, married guys "for the challenge," a counterpoint to Rudd's pursuit of male friendship. In a role reversal, it is Samberg who must counsel Rudd on how to not come off as gay, and to avoid overstating his love of films such as The Devil Wears Prada. Whether this breaks down, or reinforces gay stereotypes will depend, I think, on the open-mindedness of the audience.

While I can only speculate on how America as a whole will respond to this "I need a male friend, but I don't want to come of as gay" comedy, I Love Man should be applauded for its light-hearted re-definition of the romantic and buddy comedy, and original portrayal of male friendship. The honest performances and "bromance" chemistry between Segal and Rudd is just as unusual, and real, as two teen boys telling each other "I Love You" at the end of Superbad, and makes you realize how few films put a close friendship center stage. Maybe it's only a matter of time before we see a male counterpoint to, dare I say, Thelma & Louise driving off a cliff together.