Greg Mottola to direct Pegg/Frost's PAUL
And Simon Pegg is no longer a BASTARD.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's third big screen outing as a comedy duo in Paul will be directed by Superbad helmer Gregg Mottola, Pegg has announced on his Myspace page. Mottola who has just finished shooting the amusement park comedy Adventureland with Ryan Reynolds, Kirsten Stewart and Bill Hader - will direct Paul as his next feature. Pegg and Frost will play two British comic book nerds who embark on a road trip across America. Rumors also suggest that it will Frost who actually plays the straight man this time around with Pegg being the comedy sidekick - a complete reversal of roles from their previous outings in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. In related news, filming on that movie has meant Simon Pegg has had to pull out of Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards. He was set to play a British Lieutenant but the role will now have to be re-cast, presumably British comedians Martin Freeman and especially Ricky Gervais may become front runners for the part.
"Much to our mutual disappointment, I won't be appearing in QT's forthcoming 'Inglorious Bastards' due to insurmountable scheduling difficulties," he said. "We really tried to make it work but in the end, it just was not possible without severe ramifications elsewhere. I'm trying to remain upbeat, as Tom Selleck said 'Who the hell is Indiana Jones anyway?'"Filming begins on Bastards in just under two months time, I doubt it will be long until Tarantino names his new man. For Paul, Mottola evaded all the praise for Superbad - it seemed to land on the shoulders of Judd Apatow, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen... along with the two stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill. Let's hope he is hungry for more success, and can bring out the comedy spark in Frost and Pegg that their long time friend Edgar Wright can do so effortlessly. source - coming soon