Judd Apatow's Next Film Hits On June 1, 2012

Briefly: We don't know what Judd Apatow's next film as a writer/director/producer will be. We don't even have a title. He's writing a script now for the next movie he'll direct, and that movie now has a release date: June 1, 2012. Remember when this whole idea of deciding the release date before the movie is made was just for big-ticket blockbusters? While Mr. Apatow has produced a lot of broad comedies, Funny People seemed to suggest that he's moving away from the sort of big popular comedies of which The 40-Year Old Virgin was emblematic.

And, in a way, that makes me love that Universal is setting the date before the movie. Despite a handful of failures in the past year or two, the studio is still taking chances on some interesting creator-driven projects. Funny People wasn't a total bomb, but at only $71m worldwide it wasn't any sort of success, either. But Universal is still banking big on Apatow as a creative and commercial force. Can we assume from this date that his next film will swing back into the goofy/funny mainstream and away from the more adult Albert Brooks type of film? And, just to give you something more to chew on, Vulture has a great interview with the filmmaker — it's worth a read, even if you're not a fan. [Deadline]