In September, I reported the happy news that Party Down’s Adam Scott would be joining Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt in Westfeldt’s directorial debut Friends With Kids. Now, THR has announced Megan Fox, the star of such recent box-office bombs as Jennifer’s Body and Jonah Hex, has ruined joined the film.
The film centers on “a pair of thirtysomething best friends (Scott and Westfeldt) who observe the toll that having kids has taken on the couples they know and resolve to bypass that stress by having a child and then date other people.” Wiig and Hamm will play one couple, while Fox will play Scott’s date.
The film, penned by Westfeldt, has Mike Nichols and Jake Kasdan on board as executive producers. Kasdan says of the script, “Jen wrote one of the funniest and most original scripts I’ve read in a long time, the rare great generational character comedy.”
Personally, with such a previously killer cast and a well-reputed script, I don’t understand pulling in the notorious wild card that is Megan Fox. Cinetic Media’s John Sloss, who will handle sales for the project, said of Fox, “It’s a very literate script and when Jen met with her, she thought Megan was spot on. When (Fox) picks the right part, she has tremendous value.” Count on a sales person to say something so thoroughly ambiguous.
Knowing little about the script, here’s my guess: Scott and Westfeldt will end up together by film’s end. Fox will likely serve as a foil to Westfield’s character, making Scott’s realize he doesn’t want a vacuous gorgeous twentysomething, he wants a neurotic yet charming thirtysomething waif. If this is an accurate description, I understand selecting Fox’s type for the role, but Fox herself? Am I the only one that felt Jennifer’s Body could have been a far less terrible movie without Fox’s stilted delivery? I’m a big enough fan of the rest of the cast that I’m still excited about Friends with Kids, but the addition of Fox is a bit of a buzzkill.
Friends With Kids is set to begin shooting in New York City this month, with a projected release of April 2011.
What do you think of the latest Friends with Kids casting news?