Despite their writing work on shows like The State and Reno 911!, as well as blockbusters like the Night at the Museum films, comedic duo Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant have yet to get behind the camera for a feature film. That is all about to change as Darko Entertainment and Principato-Young Entertainment announced today that they are planning their directorial debut, titled Hell Baby.
The dark comedy will star Rob Corddry and Leslie Bibb as a newly married couple who are expecting their first child as they move into a haunted New Orleans house. Fearing a demonic baby, they call on an exorcism team from The Vatican, played by Lennon and Garant. It sounds like a mix of Ghostbusters and any number of horror exorcism films, but I’m excited to see how they make this concept funny.
Richard Kelly’s Darko Entertainment recently gave us the hilarious and subversive God Bless America from Bobcat Goldthwait, so I hope they continue the streak here. I find Garant and Lennon hilarious, but some of their big-budget endeavors are less satisfying, so it will be great to see something they have seemingly full control over. The concept of this new film is just wacky enough to work, especially with Corddry as the male lead.
Production begins this April in New Orleans.