Jason Bateman to Direct, Star in FBI Wedding Comedy at Universal
Jason Bateman will direct and star in an untitled FBI wedding comedy for Universal Pictures.
He’ll lens from a script written David Bar Katz. Previous drafts were written by David Flebotte and Phil Alden Robinson.
Bateman and James Garavente will produce for their Universal-based Aggregate Films banner. Bob Cooper will also produce for his Landscape Entertainment shingle.
Universal did not provide a logline for the project, which had been set up in 2011 as a starring vehicle for Steve Carell, after being picked up out of turnaround from Warner Bros.
It’s the third directing gig for Bateman, who made his feature helming debut with “Bad Words.” He’s in pre-production on “The Family Fang,” which he will direct and star in opposite Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken, with shooting commencing mid-July in New York City.
He will be seen next in a pair of Warner Bros. titles — “This is Where I Leave You” and “Horrible Bosses 2.”
Katz is writing “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit” for Fox Searchlight, director Walter Salles and producer Donald De Line. He recently wrote the pilot “Sobering” for Showtime and Apostle Pictures.
Universal’s Kristin Lowe and Sara Scott will oversee the project for the studio.
Katz is represented by CAA, manager Untitled Entertainment and Schreck, Rose, Dapello and Adams. Bateman is represented by CAA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush & Kaller.
Related stories
MGM Contends 'James Bond' Lawsuit Against Universal Is Warranted
Jason Bateman's 'Longest Week' Gets U.S. Distribution
Carla Laemmle Dead: Silent Film Actress, Niece of Universal Founder, Dies at 104
Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
