What is it with Hollywood’s current interest in comedies about people with fatal diseases? It’s not like it’s a subject you’d think would have audiences lining up around the block and chortling into their popcorn.
In 2009 we had Adam Sandler thinking he was going to die in Funny People, Kate Hudson is shortly to start shooting Earthbound, in which she’ll be dying of cancer, and the’re also the upcoming Seth Rogen and James McAvoy project (which was formerly known as I’m With Cancer but is now untitled), which is a fictionalised take on Da Ali G Show producer, Will Reiser’s, experiences of contracting and dealing with the disease. Reiser also wrote the screenplay for the film, so it could actually be a good mix of comedy and an authentic look at dealing with cancer.
While Nicole Holocefener (Friends With Money) was originally lined up to direct I’m With Cancer, she’s now dropped out due to creative differences and been replaced by Jonathan Levine, who’s best known The Wackness and All The Boys Love Mandy Lane.
THR also says that actress Anna Kendrick has signed up to star in the movie. The Up In The Air and Twilight actress will play Katherine, a young psychologist assigned to help McAvoy’s cancer sufferer, despite having little real world experience. Seth Rogen will also have a role in the movie, although he seems to be mainly acting as a producer on this one.
Filming is due to begin next month in Rogen’s hometown of Vancouver, on what sounds like it could be a very interesting movie, although I hope it doesn’t start a trend for yet more fatal disease comedies.