Judd Apatow to produce Lonely Island’s second feature film

Judd Apatow to produce Lonely Island’s second feature film

Seven years after the failure of 'Hot Rod,' Universal Pictures picks up rights to a second Lonely Island film and pairs the comedic-musicians with producer Judd Apatow.

Even though Lonely Island’s first film, Hot Rod, lost Paramount Pictures over $10 million after a terrible box office performance, the comedic-music trio is now set to make a second feature film. Universal Pictures has picked up the rights for a new film, which will team Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone with award-winning producer Judd Apatow.

Hot Rod grossed a mere $5.3 million in its opening weekend in 2007 and earned under $14 million during its entire run in theaters. However, since that movie’s failure, Lonely Island have made several well-received appearances on Saturday Night Live and collaborated with high-profile artists like Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Michael Bolton. After releasing incredibly popular digital shorts like “Dick in a Box”, “Lazy Sunday” and “I’m on a Boat,” the trio went on to release three LPs, including 2013’s The Wack Album.

Outside of their musical endeavors, the members of Lonely Island have all become far more experienced in Hollywood over the past seven years, with Schaffer and Taccone keeping busy with acting and directing and Samberg finding success with his TV comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine and winning a Golden Globe for his role in the show. Universal is also expecting Apatow’s participation with the film to help build hype; the producer has seen massive success with films like Superbad, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall and has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Hollywood Comedy Award, an AFI Award, and been nominated for Grammy Awards, PGA Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards.

Variety reported Thursday that while the title of the Lonely Island film has yet to be decided, the trio will be playing characters in “the world of music.” Scaffer and Taccone may direct the film, and Universal’s senior vice president of production Erik Baiers will oversee the project for the studio.

News of their second film comes months after Lonely Island signed a deal with Fox to produce comedy shows for the network over the next couple of years.

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