Between the new Vanity Fair spread starring his comedy troupe (which includes his wife) and official word that he’s producing Ghostbusters 3, Judd Apatow is the talk of the Internet today. Eric D. Snider, in a new post at Cinematical that is apparently unrelated to either bits of news, even discusses Apatow’s potential status as this generation’s John Hughes. Considering some bloggers refer to the stars of the Vanity Fair feature as the “Frat Pack,” despite that term’s origins being with another set of actors (though Apatow’s pals do overlap and have been deemed “Junior Varsity” members), may give weight to Snider’s claim.
Whatever Apatow’s group is called (Vanity Fair simply yet prematurely labels them “Comedy’s New Legends”), their leader is certainly ruling over a large part of Hollywood these days, enough that he’s sure to appropriate more than just the Frat Pack name before he’s done with his reign as King of Comedy. Now that he’s borrowed the talent of Adam Sandler (for this summer’s Funny People) and is about to take charge of even older SNL alum (for the next Ghostbusters flick), what could stop him from hiring Anthony Michael Hall or Shirley Maclaine in order to align himself with even the “Brat Pack” and “Rat Pack,” respectively?
We’ll just have to wait to see how much Apatow will ultimately conquer. So, for the time being, let’s take a look at what the blogosphere is saying about him and his crew today:
- In addition to Snider’s discussion, Cinematical has a post about the VF feature from editor-in-chief Erik Davis, as well as a gallery of images from the spread. I have to agree with Davis’ gratitude regarding a lack of nudity in the parody of the famous Tom Ford VF cover, but not because I don’t want to see those guys naked. Rather, I believe male nudity as comedy is so 2008, and therefore the bodysuits are much funnier.
- Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net somehow dislikes the Tom Ford parody enough not to showcase the image with the rest, but he does have special affinity for the Jason Segel-as-Buster Keaton image, so I can’t hold too much against him.
- Vulture claims, “For what it’s worth, of the twelve people that they feature, only one of them (Anna Faris) hasn’t appeared in either Arrested Development or a Frat Pack release.” Well, despite it not being produced by Apatow, I’d argue that her upcoming role in Observe and Report counts. No?
- Mark at I Watch Stuff worries about the future marketing of Ghostbusters 3: “Does this mean the trailers will triumphantly announce that Ghostbusters 3 is ‘from the guys who brought you The 40-Year-Old Virgin‘? Because the far more impressive part is still that it’s ‘from the guys who were the Ghostbusters–even Bill Murray, I shit you not!’”
- The Playlist received an email from Production Weekly confirming Apatow’s credit as a producer, though they write, “In what capacity of creative involvement he will lend to the project is undetermined at this time.” The blog also shares this short logline given to the film: “A ragtag group of paranormal researchers reopen their notorious ghost removal service.”
- Vulture again (specifically Lane Brown) responding to the confirmation:
So were early whispers about this very thing last summer based on actual fact, or were they lucky guesses that turned out to be true? Or did Apatow just throw up his hands and submit to the almighty will of the Internet? If so, we demand that he cast Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, James Franco, and McLovin as the new Ghostbusters, stick with the original Ray Parker Jr. theme song, and release this thing on our next birthday (November 16, which is a Monday this year). Make it happen, Apatow!
And here is a behind-the-scenes video from the VF shoot:
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