Reno 911! stars and non-stop screenwriters Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant are set to make their co-directorial debut on the horror comedy Hell Baby, and they’ve found their two leads. Darko Entertainment announced today that Rob Corddry and Leslie Bibb (Talladega Nights) have signed on to star in the comedy that centers on a young expectant couple who moves in to New Orleans most haunted fixer-upper and calls upon The Vatican’s elite exorcism team to save them from a demonic baby. Lennon and Garant wrote the script, will co-direct, and plan to star as the Vatican’s exorcism team.
Lennon and Garant have made a nice living in recent years writing younger-skewing comedies like The Pacifier and the Night at the Museum films (they even wrote a book entitled Writing Movies for Fun and Profit). Hell Baby sounds like it has hints of Rosemary’s Baby, and for Corddry’s sake as a comedian I hope they’ve written a more adult comedy. Bibb currently stars on the ABC series GCB and Corddry recently wrapped the zombie adaptation Warm Bodies. Hit the jump to read the press release.
LOS ANGELES (March 20, 2012) – Darko Entertainment and Principato-Young Entertainment announced today the companies will produce “Hell Baby,” which will mark co-screenwriters Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant’s feature film directorial debut. Darko Entertainment will finance the film. Rob Corddry and Leslie Bibb have signed on to star. “Hell Baby” will be produced by Darko Entertainment’s Sean McKittrick, Jeff Culotta and Ted Hamm; Principato-Young’s Peter Principato and Paul Young; and Garant/Lennon Productions. The film is set to start production on location in New Orleans in April.
In the horror comedy “Hell Baby,” a young expectant couple moves in to New Orleans most haunted fixer-upper and calls upon The Vatican’s elite exorcism team to save them from a demonic baby. Lennon and Garant will portray that team.
The film is an original script from the multi-hyphenates Lennon and Garant, who have written nine feature films together including “Night at the Museum,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “Taxi,” “Reno 911!: Miami,” “Balls of Fury,” and “The Pacifier.” They are currently writing “Rentaghost” for 20th Century Fox and Ben Stiller.
As an actor, Lennon has appeared in numerous films including “I Love You, Man,” “Bad Teacher,” and the forthcoming comedy “What To Expect When Your Expecting,” which will be released in May.
Garant has directed such features as “Reno 911!: Miami” and “Balls of Fury,” which he co-wrote with Lennon. He also directed numerous episodes of the television series, “Reno 911!.” Additionally, Garant wrote the feature “Jessabelle,” which will begin production next month in Wilmington, North Carolina for Lionsgate Films and will be produced by Blumhouse Productions and Principato-Young Entertainment.
Their television credits include MTV’S “The State,” Comedy Central’s “Viva Variety,” and the long-running and hugely popular “Reno 911!,” which spawned a feature film, “Reno: 911!: Miami.” Their first book, Writing Movies for Fun and Profit, was published last July and was a staple on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List, and will come out in paperback this July (Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster).
According to The Live Feed, Mary Elizabeth Ellis will reprise her role as Caroline, the manipulative ex-girlfriend of Nick (Jake Johnson) in the final three episodes of the first season. Nick considers moving in with Caroline, which would open up a room in the apartment. Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris) start looking for possible replacements—Lennon will guest star as one of the candidates. The season finale will air on May 8, cementing the first unqualified hit sitcom Fox has premiered in quite some time.