Empire has always had a soft spot for the US version of The Office (in fact, whisper it, but this correspondent actually prefers it to the original), and so we’re delighted to see that Columbia Pictures have picked up a spec script called Bad Teacher, written by two of the driving forces behind the show.
Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky are co-exec producers (whatever the hell that is, but they’ve also written many episodes) on the show, which is about to enter its fifth season, but they’re clearly proving pretty adept at the movie biz as well, for Bad Teacher is their second script. They co-wrote the forthcoming comedy, Year One, with the director, Harold Ramis.
Bad Teacher – which instantly evokes memories of the brilliant Bad Santa – revolves around a gold-digging seventh grade teacher who sets her sights on a colleague after she is dumped by her sugar daddy. But standing in her way is a love rival – the school’s model teacher.
Sounds like it could be demented, debauched and very funny.
It’s in good hands, too, for Jimmy Miller is on board as producer. Miller used to manage virtually every A-list comedian in Hollywood, and now is one of the top comedy producers in Hollywood, with Year One and the Will Ferrell/Sacha Baron Cohen Sherlock Holmes on his to-do list, along with Bad Teacher. And as slates go, that’s not bad at all.