Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Reteam With '50/50' Director for 'Xmas'

[Akijama]

Director Jonathan Levine is set to reteam with his 50/50 stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen for an Untitled Xmas Comedy. Sony beat out several studios to nab the project, which is on the fast track for a summer 2014 start.'

The film revolves around three childhood best friends who reunite in New York City for their annual tradition of going out on Christmas Eve. Gordon-Levitt and Rogen will play two of the best friends, with the third lead role still to be cast.

The project also reunites the 50/50 trio with Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane, whose company Mandate Pictures -- now named Good Universe -- produced and co-financed 50/50. Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures also is onboard to produce Xmas.

50/50, which centered on a 27-year-old man's (Gordon-Levitt) struggles after a cancer diagnosis, became a critical hit and was nominated for a best picture Golden Globe. The film cost $8 million and earned $39 million worldwide.

Xmas was shopped as a package over the weekend and sparked heated interest from several studios including Sony, Universal and Paramount. In a competitive situation, Sony emerged as the winner before the dust settled late Monday afternoon.

Levine wrote the screenplay.

Rogen, Goldberg and Point Grey's James Weaver are producing. Drake and Kahane will executive produce alongside Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-levitt-678862

[jlk5844]

Cool. 50/50 was great so it will be nice to see Rogen and Gordon-Levitt together in a completely different type of film.

[chris_sc77]

Very excited for this.
Wonder if it will be out be December of this year

[Mandalorian]

Hell of a trio. Always willing to see more from them.

[KilloWertz]

After 50/50, this jumps straight to highly anticipated.

[BluLamp]

I'll watch anything new Levine does. His first four films are great.

[MikeScott]

Loved 50/50 (as well as Mandy Lane and Warm Bodies) so I'm absolutely game. I imagine some people will be up in arms over it being called Xmas though, if they end up going with that title.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Anthony Mackie Targets Christmas Comedy Opposite Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

First announced earlier this year, Jonathan Levine's untitled Christmas comedy appears to have scored a new leading man. TheWrap reports that Captain America: The Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie is in negotiations to headline opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen (both of whom worked with Levine on 50/50).

Set to begin production this summer, the comedy follows three childhood best friends who meet in New York City for an annual Christmas Eve reunion.

Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane are behind the project. Their company, Good Universe (previously named Mandate Pictures), produced and co-financed 50/50. Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures will also produce. Levine is also providing the screenplay for the film.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=118221

I liked him in both Pain & Gain along with Captain America: The Winter Solider.

[ace112096]

50/50 was great so I cant wait for these 3 to reteam

[Akijama]

Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie Christmas Eve Comedy Gets Release Date

Christmas is coming early next year — literally — as Sony Pictures has announced it will release Jonathan Levine's untitled Xmas comedy on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015. The film stars Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie.

Ethan (Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Rogen) and Chris (Mackie) have been friends since childhood, and for a decade, their yearly Christmas Eve reunion has been an annual night of debauchery and hilarity. Now that they're entering adulthood, the tradition is coming to an end, and to make it as memorable as possible, they set out to find the Nutcracka Ball — the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.

Rogen and Evan Goldberg produced the comedy through their Point Grey banner along with James Weaver. Levine and Goldberg co-wrote the script with Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir, based on a story by Levine.

Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake served as executive producers alongside Barbara A. Hall and Ben Waisbren, as well as Hunter and Shaffir.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Good to hear on the release date.

[DisneyBlu]

I loved 50/50 so I'm looking forward to this one.

[Darth Marcus]

"The Night Before" - Red Band Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShIAH_G-Iuw

[Holmes]

For over a decade, a trio of friends (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie) have engaged in yuletide bacchanalia on the night before Christmas, but the tradition is coming to an end as belated maturity sets in, with one achieving fame as an athlete and another expecting a child, but one more wild December 24th awaits Chris, Ethan, and Isaac before they move on. The Night Before is a madcap and self-referential stoner variation on the holiday comedy. It is overcrowded, highly festive, and largely delightful as it charts a standard Apatow-era course—arrested development gives way to adulthood as the crude and the rude give way to third-act sentimentality—with hard-to-resist enthusiasm and welcome flashes of absurdity. A major highlight is a scene-stealing and entirely unexpected performance by flinty, ferocious character actor Michael Shannon as the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come rolled into a single enigmatic drug dealer. One notable flaw: rare is a film in which the ostensible protagonist (played by a charismatic, but relatively muted Gordon-Levitt) is so overshadowed by everyone and everything else. The film triumphs in spite of his particular journey never becoming notably involving.

B+

[MikeScott]

I loved 50/50 but this just does not look very good. I'll see it at some point but the ads are fairly unfunny.