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EXCLUSIVE: Justin Timberlake is making a deal to star in Friends With Benefits, a Screen Gems romantic comedy that becomes one of three bed-hopping-themed projects going by the same title. Timberlake will star in a romantic comedy directed by Will Gluck, whose recently completed Screen Gems comedy, Easy A, has tested strongly and is bound for a Toronto Film Festival bow. A headhunter recruits a magazine editor and since each is too busy to find a mate, they agree to sleep together with no strings attached. Things get complicated when the guy falls for the girl, who’s dating someone else. The script was written by Keith Merryman and David Newman, but Gluck is expected to do a polish.
Paramount is also using the title on a romantic comedy that Ivan Reitman will direct with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Insiders acknowledge that Screen Gems registered the title first, when the Paramount film was called Fuckbuddies. While Paramount could have that title all to itself, it would be suicide to use it, because the studio would be severely hampered in its ability to market the movie in print and network TV advertising. Fuckbuddies isn’t the big obstacle for Screen Gems, though. The bigger problem is the series pilot Friends With Benefits that NBC green lit last month, after ABC dropped it. The series, about five friends who bed-hop while looking for true love, has some heavy hitters behind it. It was written by (500) Days of Summer scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, and Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin is executive producer with Imagine chief Brian Grazer and David Nevins. While Screen Gems can block a rival studio’s film release, I’m told it can’t stop a TV series. So Screen Gems will probably have to wait and see if the series makes NBC’s fall schedule and becomes a hit before it decides what to do with its movie. These title skirmishes come up occasionally. The most recent was on Avatar, and once again, Paramount came out on the short end. Fox and James Cameron had that title first, so while M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount made their film based on the popular animated Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, they dropped Avatar from a film that will be released July 2.
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Having been around the TV-version of “Friends With Benefits” the last couple of weeks, I think neither Screen Gems nor Paramount has much to worry about.
Funny how someone named “nirvana”, shorthand for a pilot shooting at the same time, bashes competition. Hmmm. Oh well, Nevermind Nirvana.
WHY!?!?!?
You know what would be a great title for a movie about a guy who falls in love with his fuck buddy? 500 Days of Summer.
Yeah, but then you’d have to be more descriptive: “a crybaby wiener gets an unhealthy crush on a girl that’s just not that into him.”
Hollywood just really wants a successful version of Coupling, huh>?
Coupling could have worked in the US if they hadn’t cast it so incredibly poorly.
Jack Davenport should be a bigger star.
Yes, and Richard Coyle should be a big star, period.
Was more than poor casting; it’s like they left the spine of it across the Atlantic – a truly pitful “adaptation” or “reimagining” even
Wasn’t there (yet another) “FWB” -titled thing that was never released. Time to ask the marketing people to work harder to come up w/ another title.
Maybe…”The Benefits of Friends?”
I don’t understand why someone as high calibre as Natalie Portman, would agree to star in a movie opposite Ashton Kutcher….doesn’t seem like a smart career move on her part, to me.
It’s the money.
It’s because she’s doing everything humanly possible to distance herself from her goody-two shoes image. No one wants to be known as the fantasy for nerd boys. Even her buddy Mila Kunis offered that backhanded compliment, “She’s every nerd’s fantasy.”
Hence, the girl Superbad stoner movie, and this terrible, terrible script.
So, the round headed boy gets to star in a romcom. Pass.
I really don’t get the Timberlake thing. Sure, he has a decent voice, but look at the picture. He’s an UGLY guy.
I always thought he was a very dowdy, nerdy kind of guy with absolutely no style and no sex appeal. I was shocked when he became the “it” boy from n-sync. I was like “What, he’s the nerdiest one!” I would have had my money on JC Chasez to break out, but I guess he has no charisma or something.
Yeah I don’t get it either. He’s really a very average looking guy. And not particularly masculine to me.
The voice at decent. It’s awful. FYI, digitally manipulated. He really can’t sing.
Thank you.
Didn’t Screen Gems begin as a television marquee under the old Columbia Pictures label?
Something like that. Screen Gems wast the brand label for Columbia’s TV division. The Wikipedia entry [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Gems] seems fairly accurate, although at some point I think there was also an advertising/commercials house called Screen Gems (not mentioned in WikiP entry) which may or may not have been related to earlier incarnations at pre-Coca-Cola Columbia. I don’t like to reference Wikipedia but information on Screen Gems looks OK.
I’m excited to see JT getting a fair shake at the acting thing. I was surprised by his comedy chops on SNL and am looking forward to checking him out in a feature.
Guy can’t act. sorry. talented musician who has been desperately trying to break thru as an actor and just cant seem to choose the right stuff.
madonna has same problem.
stick to snl skits. spare us please.
Eh, I’ve met Timberlake and he’s just like he seems, a dorky but nice guy, skinny and not great looking. Your average pizza delivery guy, who can sing. Baffles me why chix go crazy for him but they do. Good luck to him if he can actually act.
It baffles you why chicks go crazy for him? He’s famous and makes millions of dollars. enough said about that.
Personally, I’m confused as to why he’s still getting acting gigs. Every time I see JT, all I can think about is him surrounded by 4 other dudes dancing to shitty pop music.
He’s lucky he’s got good agents.
Having read the script and worked with some of the principals on the TV show FWB, I’d be surprised if it’s long for this world. Surprised if it gets on the air, even. Completely by the numbers script containing none of the (slight) effort at originality/quirk that distinguished 500 Days of Summer. Plus they already fired and replaced one of the leads, Patrick Adams, just recently. Weirdly enough, his replacement Ryan Hansen is a dead-ringer for another cast member, Fran Kranz, a kiss-of-death actor from such failures as “Dollhouse” and “Welcome to the Captain.”
The Reitman FWB (aka Fuckbuddies) is from a pretty good script but the casting will kill it. No one in their right mind could read that script and think Kutcher and Portman were right for it.
The Screen Gems version I never heard of before reading this post.
Well considered. This town is started the slow process of recycling or trying to restart projects and talent long rejected. there is a load of money on the line with a project like this, and, someone needs to remember this when they go to work tomorrow.
You’ve got to be kidding. The Reitman Fuckbuddies script is one of the worst scripts I’ve read in the last few years. I don’t know how that girl gets work.
I love him!!! Was wondering when he’d take the lead in a movie. He’s so funny.
Add me to the list of people who don’t understand why JT is considered sexy, hot, cool, etc. What ever happened to real larger-than-life Hollywood stars? Where’s our generation’s Paul Newman? Where’s our Brando? Instead we get Timberlake and Dicaprio and Wahlberg.
Yes, Dicaprio, he belongs in that bunch. Name one movie he’s been convincing in since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Did anyone buy him as an Irish street fighter? As Howard Hughes? Didn’t we all cringe at his dopey accents in Blood Diamond and The Departed?
Anyway, back to Timberlake. A pizza delivery guy, who can sing. That pretty much says it all.
What are you talking about?!? This is a romantic comedy about friends getting it on. Justin’s a hot, smart, funny guy – perfect for this idea. Do you think “Friends with Benefits” sound like a “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” remake?!?
Guess who owns all of JT’s albums.
I think the previous poster was lamenting JT’s stardom in general and acting in particular, not comparing FWB to Sundance. Frankly, I couldn’t agree more. He’s a pasty-faced twerp.
Paramount should title its movie F-BUDDIES. Simple solution.
Hmmm…I honestly think Natalie Portman’s image is just fine, although I could see the rationale behind taking on a more light-hearted role, something that might allow her to reveal more in terms of sex appeal…but with Ashton Kutcher?? I don’t know…I just don’t see it. I don’t think he’s necessairly the right co-star to help steer her image in a less “goody two shoes” direction. In fact, he is just totally wrong, wrong, wrong WRONG.
It’s about time we had some fresh casting in this romantic comedies. Anything new and different I’m all for. JTimb will make it something I want to go see.
Couldn’t agree more. I just hope they spare us Kate Hudson or Katherine Heigl as the female counterpart.
Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman are starring in F-buddies by Liz Merriweather? That is HORRIBLE casting. Portman, fine. But Ashton Kutcher? The male lead is clearly a nebbish. Jonah Hill and that hipster girl from Parks and Rec would be the best fit.
If he can act like he did on SNL, which he probably can, this should be good. It’s something different anyway. No more nerds getting the girl!
A bunch of probably umemployed nerds calling Justin Timberlake a “nerd” and “ugly.” What sense of humor you guys have.
I am far from being a fan, but I can admit he is a good looking guy and has a good voice. Whether he can act remains to be seen, but he has been great on SNL.
Romantic Comedies are my favorite genre so I decided to weigh in on this discussion;
I read the Fuckbuddies screenplay and thought it was very good albeit needed some tweaking which I’m sure has been done.
I could clearly see Ashton and Natalie in these roles and am looking forward to seeing it. I don’t think it’s bad for Natalie to do this at all it’s different and a challenge for her.
Actors and actresses who play the same roles become very boring as with the comments about Kate Hudson or Katherine Heigl don’t forget Lopez and Roberts yes no one wants to see them anymore in these rom-coms.
I feel the same about Leonardo, Day-Lewis,Irons, Winslet, yes I know fine actors but boring as hell cause its the same thing over and over again dark deep dramas…Can you handle comedy? Now that would be a challenge.
Can never say that about Meryl she has taken so many different parts and she has never been typecast or boring. Portman is doing the same thing with her choices.
Clooney, Depp and Pitt have also chosen a varied combination of roles which has widened their appeal.
I think Mila will be fine J Timberlake was a surprise as I had no idea he was striving to be an actor. There is room for both films cause Im tired of the old formula where the chase is on but the act never happens til the very end …It’s not like that in the real world and I agree any new casting is better than the old faces we see over and over again.